Ai 


III 


^ 


no. 


/n 


0l)nkcspcavc's  iconic ; 


VISITED    AND    DESCRIBED    BY 


Washington  Irving  and  F.  W.  Fairholt 


LETTER   FROM  STRATFORD   BY  J.  F.  SABIN5 


OTomplrtc  ^xo^t  WLoxks 


SHAKESPEARE. 


fVifb    Etchings   hy   J.  F.  and   fV.  W.  Sabin. 


NEW   YORK: 

J.  Sabin   &  Sons,  84  Nassau  Street. 

1877. 


UINlVLRSn  Y  OF  CALIFORNl 
SANTA  BARBARA 


INDEX    OF    PLATES 


Shakespeare's  home. 


The  following  etchings  are  not  put  forth  with 
claims  to  originality  farther  than  as  to  variations  in 
treatment.  We  have  noted  the  want  of  a  neat 
little  book  on  the  subject,  and  we  have  endeavored 
to  produce  it. 

Falstaff"  after  G.  Cruikshank,  ]  ,r-  ^-  , 

}  Vignette  on  1  itle. 

in  the  large  paper  copies  only.  J 

Illustrated  Title ;   Stratford  Church  .       page   2 

House  in  Henley  Street      ....  7 

Bidford  Bridge      .          .       -   .          .          .  .21 

Charlecote  Hall          .....  25 

Warwickshire  Cottage            .          .          .  .35 

Shakespeare's  Tomb            ....  43 

Chancel  Window,  Trinity  Church           .  .   48 

Luddington  Church             ....  60 

Holy  Trinity  from  the  Avon           .          .  .68 

Anne  Hathaway's  Cottage           ...  76 

Lord  Southampton          ....  (83) 


E  lE^  I^ -A.  T  .A. 


Page  55.— For  "  Smith  takes,"  read  "  Smith  finds." 
Page  5l>.— For  "  little  Latin  and  less  Greek,"  read  "  small 

Latine  and  lesse  Greeke." 
Page  (85?),  10th  line.— "  Ear  not   are  so  barren,"  shonld 

read  "  Ear  so  barren."' 


To  the  Editor  : 

Dear  Sir, — You  kindly  inform  me,  that  it  is  your 
intention  to  issue  a  small  volume  on  the  home  of 
Shakespeare.  As  well  might  you  undertake  to  print 
the  works  of  Shakespeare  on  a  needle's  point.  A  small 
volume,  forsooth  1  on  the  home  of  Shakespeare.  His 
home  is  in  the  human  heart,  and  in  the  hearts  of  all, 
speaking  the  language  he  wrote  or  reading  his  works 
translated.    Fie,  for  shame  !  go  to  ! 

Shakespeare's  real  home,  where  is  it  not  ?  As  far 
as  human  foot  has  trod,  either  in  the  arctic  or  the 
torrid  zone,  his  voice  and  influence  have  been  heard 
and  felt.  The  tattered  leaves  of  his  much  read  volume 
are  carefully  cared  for  by  the  trapper  of  the  West 
and  the  wandering  emigrant  of  New  Zealand.  It 
cheers  the  lagging  hours  of  the  prisoner  in  his  cell, 
and  forms  the  text  for  universal  conversation.  The 
school-boy  spouts  his  lines,  the  lover  copies  his 
verses,  the  soldier  is  fired  by  his  enthusiasm,  the  jus- 
tice tempers  his  sentences  by  a  quotation,  the  lean  and 
slippered  pantaloon  pores  over  his  tome,  and  the  last 
stage  of  all  finds  hope  and  consolation  in  his  ever- 
living  lines. 

The  Home  of  Shakespeare  !  What  a  theme.  He 
had,  he  has  indeed  a  home,  and  to  his  love  of  home, 
perhaps,  is  due  the  strong  affection  which  we  cherish 
for  him.  Amid  the  gay  attraction  of  the  Metropolis 
of  Elizabeth,  and  her  court,  he  found  time   to  think. 


2  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

and  to  think  much,  of  Stratford  and  its  surroundings. 
To  this  spot  his  journeys  were  frequent,  and  he  kept 
himself  well  informed  of  the  condition  and  prospects 
of  his  birthplace.  Here  dwelt  his  Anne,  the  jointure 
of  his  name  and  fame,  the  partner  of  his  heart 
and  home,  and  here  his  children  were  reared  and 
educated,  and  married,  aye,  and  married  well  ;  and 
here  clustered  all  those  hopes  and  fears  for  the  fu- 
ture, all  those  dear  remembrances  of  the  past.  To 
this  spot  then,  on  laying  aside  the  buskin,  our 
Shakespeare  oft  repaired,  for  consultation  and  recrea- 
tion for  new  brain  work,  and  is  it  too  much  to  say, 
that  assistance  was  rendered  him  by  his  Anne  Hath- 
away .''   I  trow  not. 

It  is  rather  remarkable,  that  amid  the  mighty  in- 
tellects, which  clustered  around  the  dramatic  stage  of 
the  period,  such  as  Marlow,  Peele,  Greene  and  others, 
few  or  none  had  homes,  had  families,  or  left  a 
name  (save  their  writings)  worthy  to  be  compared  at 
all  with  Shakespeare's.  In  what  church  do  they  lie, 
what  effigies  stand  for  them  ;  in  what  memories  do 
they  live,  like  unto  our  Shakespeare  ? — none.  They 
had  no  homes — for  them  to-day,  for  our  Shakes- 
peare, to-morrow, — were  their  several  ideas.  Then,  all 
hail !  our  Shakespeare,  for  his  love  of  home  ;  and  be 
he  on  our  hearts  enthroned. 

C.  W.  Frederickson. 


^>^^       s>  P  ;K>  V 


i<V 


^^^>1K 


HOME 


THE 


HOME   OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


Thou  soft  flowing  Avon,  by  thy  silver  stream 

Of  things  more  than  mortal  sweet  Shakespeare  would  dream, 

The  fairies  by  moonlight  dance  round  his  green  bed, 

For  hallowed  the  turf  is  which  pillowed  his  head. 

Garrick. 

All  that  is  known  with  any  degree  of  certainty  con- 
cerning Shakespeare,  is,  that  he  was  born  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon,  married  and  had  children  there,  went  to 
London,  where  he  commenced  actor,  and  wrote 
poems  and  plays,  returned  to  Stratford,  made  his 
Avill,  died,  and  was  buried.  Such  is  the  concise  bi- 
ography of  our  greatest  poet,  as  given  by  Steevens  ; 
and  although  volumes  have  been  written,  more  or 
less  conjectural,  on  his  life  and  times,  they  scarcely 
add  a  single  fact  to  the  meagre  list  of  ordinary 
events  he  has  enumerated.  Slight,  however,  as  these 
notices  are,  they  invest  the  humble  town  of  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon with  an  interest  which  it  would  not 
otherwise  possess.  It  was  peculiarly  the  "  Z^.w^  ^ 
Shakespeare ;  "  here  he  was  born  ;  here  he  passed  his 
early  youth  ;  here  he  courted  and  won  Ann  Hath- 


4  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE 

away ;  here  he  sought  that  retirement  which  the 
avocations  of  his  London  career  would  occasionally 
allov/  him  to  indulge  in  ;  and  here,  when  in  riper  age 
he  had  won  honors  and  fortune  in  the  great  capital, 
he  chose  to  return,  and  pass  the  latter  days  of  a  life 
where  he  had  first  seen  the  light.  At  Stratford  he 
died  and  was  buried.  All  that  connects  itself  with 
the  personal  history  of  the  "  world's  Poet  "  at  Stratford 
is  thus  almost  as  closely  condensed  as  are  the  few 
words  quoted  above,  which  form  his  biography,  A 
day  at  Stratford  affords  ample  time  to  visit  all  these 
places  ;  they  lie  so  close,  that  a  few  minutes  walk 
only  separates  them.  In  these  days  of  change,  it 
must  be  a  work  of  interest  to  record  and  picture 
the  few  relics  connected  with  the  Bard  of  Avon, 
more  particularly  a^s  alterations  are  continually  tak- 
ing place  there,  which,  if  they  do  not  destroy,  do  at 
least  change  the  aspect  of  much  that  is  interesting 
to  all  lovers  of  the  poet,  and  "  their  name  is  legion." 
We  will  therefore  conduct  the  reader  over  Stratford 
and  its  neighborhood,  minutely  describing  all  that 
at  present  exists,  and  enumerating  what  has  passed 
away,  commencing  our  journey  at 

Shakespeare's  birthplace. 

The  house  in  Henley  Street,  as  it  at  present  exists, 
is  but  a  fragment  of  the  original  building  as  pur- 
chased by  John  Shakespeare,  the  Poet's  father,  in 
1574,  ten  years  exactly  after  the  birth  of  his  son 
William,  the  entry  of  whose  baptism  is  dated  in  the 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  5 

Parish  Register,  April  26,  1564.  John  Shakespeare 
had  purchased  in  1555  a  copyhold  house  in  Henley 
Street,  but  this  was  not  the  house  now  shown  as  the 
poet's  birth-place  ;  he  had  also  another  copyhold 
residence  in  Greenhill  Street,  and  some  property  at 
Ingon,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from  Stratford,  on  the  road 
to  Warwick.  From  these  circumstances  a  modern 
doubt  has  been  cast  on  the  truthfulness  of  the  tradi- 
tion which  assigns  the  house  in  Henley  Street  to  be 
the  poet's  birth-place.  Mr.  Knight  says:  "William 
Shakespeare,  then,  might  have  been  born  at  either  of 
his  father's  copyhold  houses  in  Greenhill  Street 
or  in  Henley  Street.  He  might  have  been  born  at 
Ingon,  or  his  father  might  have  occupied  one  of  the 
the  two  freehold  houses  in  Henley  Street  at  the 
time  of  the  birth  of  his  eldest  son.  Tradition  says 
that  William  Shakespeare  was  born  in  one  of  these 
houses,  tradition  points  out  the  very  room  in  which 
he  was  born.  Let  us  ?wt  disturb  the  belief.^'  A  wise 
conclusion  ! 

Antiquarian  credulity  has  given  place  to  an  ex- 
treme degree  of  skepticism  ;  and  from  believing  too 
much,  we  are  now  too  much  given  to  believe  too 
li  ie  ;  add  to  this  the  anxiety  many  evince  to  write 
about  Shakespeare,  although  little  else  but  conjec- 
ture in  its  vaguest  form  be  the  result  ;  and  the  value 
of  modern  conjecture  as  opposed  to  the  ancient  tra- 
dition may  very  readily  be  estimated.  Let  Stratford 
ever  sacredly  preserve  the  venerable  structure  with 
which  she  is  entrusted.     Pilgrims  from   all  climes 


6  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

have  felt  a  glow  of  enthusiasm  beneath  the  humble 
roof  in  Henley  Street.  Let  no  rude  pen  destroy 
such  homage,  or  seek  to  deprive  us  of  the  little  we 
possess  connected  with  our  immortal  bard  ! 

When  John  Shakespeare  purchased  this  house  from 
Edmund  Hall,  for  forty  pounds,  it  was  described  in 
the  legal  document  as  two  messuages,  two  gardens, 
and  two  orchards,  with  their  appurtenances.  It 
passed  at  his  death  to  his  son  William,  and  from 
him  to  his  sister,  Joan  Hart,  who  was  residing  there 
in  1639,  and  probably  until  her  death,  in  1646. 
Throughout  the  poet's  life,  the  house  is  thus  inti- 
mately connected  with  him.  It  was  a  large  building, 
the  timbers  of  substantial  oak,  the  walls  filled  in 
with  plaster.  The  dormer  windows  and  gable,  the 
deep  porch,  the  projecting  parlor  and  bay  window, 
all  contributed  to  render  it  exceedingly  picturesque. 
The  division  of  the  house  into  two  tenements  is 
very  visible.  In  1792,  when  Ireland  visited  the 
house,  the  dormer  windows  and  gable  had  been 
removed,  the  bay  window  beneath  the  gable  had 
given  place  to  an  ordinary  flat  latticed  window  of 
four  lights,  the  porch  in  front  of  that  portion  of  the 
building  in  which  Shakespeare  was  born  was  re- 
moved, and  a  butcher's  shop-front  constructed.  At 
this  time  there  lived  here  a  descendant  of  Joan  Hart, 
sister  to  the  poet,  who  pursued  the  humble  occupa- 
tion of  a  butcher.  The  other  half  of  the  house  was 
at  this  time  converted  into  an  inn,  and  ultimately 
sunk  into  a  low  public  house.     It  had  been  known 


THE  HOME  UF  SHAKESPEARE.  7 

as  the  Maidenhead  Inn  in  1642,  and  when,  in  1806, 
the  house  was  disposed  of  to  Mr.  Thomas  Court, 
who  became  "  mine  host "  thereof,  he  combined  that 
name  with  the  one  it  then  held,  of  The  Swan. 
About  1820,  excited  by  a  desire  for  "improvement," 
he  destroyed  the  original  appearance  of  this  portion 
of  the  building  by  constructing  a  new  red-brick  front, 
exactly  of  the  approved  fashion  in  which  rows  of 
houses  are  built  in  small  towns,  and  which  consists 
generally  of  an  alternate  door  and  window,  repeated 
at  regular  intervals,  below,  while  a  monotonous 
range  of  windows  above,  effectually  repulses  at- 
tention. 

This  brings  us  to  its  present  aspect  (1847),  de- 
lineated in  our  illustration.  The  house  is  now  di- 
vided into  three  tenements  ;  the  central  one  is  the 
portion  set  apart  for  exhibition,  in  the  back  rooms 
of  which  live  the  proprietors  ;  the  shop,  the  room 
above,  and  the  kitchen,  are  sacred  to  visitors.  When 
the  lower  part  of  the  central  tenement  was  made  to 
serve  for  a  butcher's  shop,  its  window  was  removed, 
and  has  not  been  replaced  ;  and  when  the  butcher's 
trade  ceased,  a  few  years  since,  no  attempt  at  restor- 
ation was  made,  and  the  shop  still  retains  the  signs 
of  its  late  occupation.  The  old  window  in  the  upper 
stor)',  originally  a  lattice  of  three  lights,  had  been 
altered  into  one  of  four,  and  modern  squares  of  glass 
usurped  the  place  of  the  old  leaded  diamond  panes. 
A  board  for  flower-pots  was  erected  in  front  of  the 
window  ;  but  more  recently  a  large,  obtrusive,  rudely 


8  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

painted  sign-board  projects  from  the  front  to  tell  us 
"  The  immortal  Shakespeare  was  l>orn  in  this  house." 
Such  is  its  present  external  aspect.  "  It  is  a  small, 
mean-looking  edifice,"  sa\s  Irving.  Ascending  the 
step,  we  pass  into  the  shop.  The  door  is  divided 
into  a  hatch,  and  we  look  back  into  the  street  above 
the  lower  half,  and  through  the  open  window  of  the 
shop,  with  its  projecting  stall  for  meat,  and  its  wooden 
roof  above.  The  walls  of  this  room  are  of  plaster, 
and  the  solid  oak  beams  rest  on  the  stone  founda- 
tion. On  entering,  the  visitor  looks  towards  the 
kitchen,  through  the  open  door  communicating  with 
the  shop.  On  the  right  is  a  roomy  fire-place,  the 
sides  built  of  brick,  and  having  the  chimney-piece 
above  cut  with  a  low-pointed  arch  out  of  a  massive 
beam  of  oak.  To  the  left  of  the  door  is  a  projection 
in  the  wall,  which  forms  a  recess  or  "  bacon  cup- 
board," the  door  of  which  opens  in  the  side  of  the 
kitchen  chimney  of  the  adjoining  room.  The  floor 
is  covered  with  flagstones,  broken  into  fifty  varied 
shapes ;  the  roof  displays  the  bare  timbers  upon 
which  the  upper  story  rests.  A  raised  step  leads 
from  the  shop  to  the  kitchen  ;  it  is  a  small  square 
room,  with  a  stone  floor  and  a  roof  of  massive  tim- 
bers. A  door  opposite  the  shop  leads  to  an  inner 
room,  inhabited  by  the  person  who  shows  the  house. 
The  fire-place  here  is  large  and  roomy,  the  mantle- 
tree  a  solid  beam  of  oak.  Within  the  fire-place,  on 
one  side,  is- a  hatch,  opening  to  the  "bacon  cup- 
board "  already  spoken  of ;  on  the  opposite  side  is  a 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  g 

small  arched  recess  for  a  chair  ;  here  often  sat  John 
Shakespeare,  and  here  his  young  son  William  passed 
his  earliest  days.  Ireland  compares  the  kitchen  to 
the  subjects  which  "  so  frequently  employed  the  rare 
talents  of  Ostade."  In  the  corner  of  the  chinmey 
stood  an  old  oak  chair,  which  had  for  a  number  of 
years  received  nearly  as  many  adorers  as  the  cele- 
brated shrine  of  the  Lady  of  Loretto.  This  relic  was 
purchased  in  July,  1790,  by  the  Princess  Czartoryska, 
who  made  a  journey  to  this  place  in  order  to  obtain 
intelligence  relative  to  Shakespeare  ;  and  being  told 
that  he  had  often  sat  in  this  chair,  she  placed  herself 
in  it,  and  expressed  an  ardent  wish  to  become  a  pur- 
chaser ;  but  being  informed  that  it  was  not  to  be  sold 
at  any  price,  she  left  a  handsome  gratuity  to  old  Mrs. 
Harte,  and  left  the  place  with  apparent  regret. 
About  four  months  after,  the  anxiety  of  the  Princess 
could  no  longer  be  withheld,  and  her  secretary  was 
despatched  express,  as  the  fit  agent,  to  purchase  this 
treasure  at  any  rate ;  the  sum  of  twenty  guineas  was 
the  price  fixed  on,  and  the  secretary  and  chair,  with 
a  proper  certificate  of  its  authenticity  on  stamped 
paper,  set  off  in  a  chaise  for  London.  With  that 
anxiety  to  supply  relic-hunters  who  visit  Stratford, 
and  who  sometimes  feel  disappointed  with  the  little 
which  remains  there  connected  with  the  poet,  the 
absence  of  the  genuine  chair  was  not  long  felt.  A 
very  old  chair  is  still  in  the  place,  and  Washington 
Irving  thus  speaks  of  the  chair  he  saw  in  1820  : 
"The  most  favorite  object  of  curiosity,  however,  is 


lO  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

Shakespeare's  chair.  It  stands  in  the  chimney-nook 
of  a  small  gloomy  chamber,  just  behind  what  was  his 
father's  shop.  Here  he  may  many  a  time  have  sat 
when  a  boy,  watching  the  slowly  revolving  spit  with 
all  the  longing  of  an  urchin  ;  or  of  an  evening,  listen- 
ing to  the  crones  and  gossips  of  Stratford,  dealing 
forth  churchyard  tales  and  legendary  anecdotes  of 
the  troublesome  times  of  England.  In  this  chair  it 
is  the  custom  for  every  one  that  visits  the  house  to 
sit  :  whether  this  is  done  with  the  hope  of  imbibing 
any  of  the  inspiration  of  the  bard,  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
say ;  I  merely  mention  the  fact ;  and  mine  hostess 
privately  assured  me,  that  though  built  of  solid  oak, 
such  was  the  present  zeal  of  devotees,  that  the  chair 
had  to  be  new  bottomed  at  least  once  in  three  years. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  also,  in  the  history  of  this  ex- 
traordinary chair,  that  it  partakes  something  of  the 
volatile  nature  of  the  Santa  Casa  of  Loretto,  or  the 
flying  chair  of  the  Arabian  enchanter  ;  for  though  sold 
some  years  since  to  a  northern  princess,  yet,  strange 
to  tell,  it  has  found  its  way  back  again  to  the  old 
chimney  corner." 

Of  the  sort  of  Shakespearian  relics  exhibited  in  the 
house  at  this  time,  he  gives  an  amusing  list.  "  There 
was  the  shattered  stock  of  the  very  matchlock  with 
which  Shakespeare  shot  the  deer,  on  his  poaching 
exploit ;  there,  too,  was  his  tobacco  box,  which 
proves  that  he  was  a  rival  smoker  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  ;  the  sword  also  with  which  he  played 
Hamlet ;  and  the  identical  lanthorn  with  which  Friar 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE  ,  i 

Lawrence  discovered  Romeo  and  Juliet.  There  was 
an  ample  supply,  also,  of  Shakespeare's  mulberry 
tree,  which  seems  to  have  as  extraordinary  powers 
of  self-multiplication  as  the  wood  of  the  true  cross, 
of  which  there  is  enough  extant  to  build  a  ship  of 
the  line." 

Opposite  the  fire-place  in  the  kitchen  is  a  window, 
and  beside  this  is  the  stair  which  leads  into  the 
room  in  which  the  poet  was  born.  It  is  a  low- 
roofed  apartment,  receiving  its  only  light  from  the 
large  window  in  front.  The  same  huge  beams  pro- 
ject from  the  plastered  walls,  one  of  consider- 
able solidity,  crossing  the  ceiling.  The  fireplace 
projects  close  to  the  door  which  leads  into  the 
room  ;  an  immense  beam  of  oak  forms  the  mantel- 
tree  ;  a  large  piece  is  cut  out  of  one  corner — the  work 
of  an  enthusiastic  young  lady,  so  said  the  late  propri- 
etress, who  declares  that  she  was  kept  in  conversa- 
tion below  by  the  lady's  female  friend  while  the  act 
was  done.  She  told  many  similar  stories  of  Shakspe- 
rian  enthusiasm,  and  never  left  the  room  or  lost  sight 
of  anyone  after  this  daring  trick.  To  be  permitted  to 
sleep  a  night  in  the  room,  she  stated,  was  an  ordinary 
request  made  to  her,  which  she  occasionally  grati- 
fied ;  while  such  fits  of  enthusiasm  as  bursting  into 
tears,  or  falling  down  and  kissing  the  floor,  were 
ordinary  matters  scarcely  worth  her  noticing. 

Of  the  old  furniture  in  this  room,  and  that  through- 
out the  house,  it  niay  be  hardly  necessary  to  remark, 
that  it  has  no  absolute  connection  with  Shakespeare. 


12  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

A  portrait  of  Shakespeare,  on  panel — a  poor  perform- 
ance— was  brought  from  the  White  Lion  Inn,  a  few 
doors  from  this  house. 

In  this  room  the  visitor,  if  he  pleases,  may  sign 
his  name  in  the  book  kept  for  that  purpose.  About 
1815,  the  conductors  of  the  PubHc  Library  of  Strat- 
ford gave  to  Mrs.  Hornby,  the  then  proprietress  of 
the  house,  a  book  for  that  purpose,  the  walls  and 
windows  having  been  covered  before.  Among  many 
hundreds  of  names  of  persons  of  all  grades  and 
countries,  occur  those  of  Byron,  Scott,  and  Wash. 
ington  Irving,  the  last  three  times.  Many  are 
accompanied  by  expressions  of  feeling,  others  by 
stanzas  and  attempts  at  poetry,  which  have  been 
thus  commented  upon  by  one  among  the  number : — 

"  Our  Shakspere,  when  we  read  the  votive  scrawls 
With  which  well-meaning  folks  deface  these  walls  ; 
And  while  we  seek  in  vain  some  lucky  hit, 
Amidst  the  lines  whose  nonsense  nonsense  smothers, 
We  find,  unlike  thy  Falstaff  in  his  wit, 
Thou  art  not  here  the  cause  of  wit  in  others." 

The  most  curious  feature  of  the  room  is  the 
myriad  of  pencilled  and  inked  autographs,  which 
cover  walls,  windows,  and  ceiling,  and  which  cross 
and  re-cross  each  other  occasionally,  so  closely 
written  and  so  continuous  that  it  gives  the  walls  the 
appearance  of  being  covered  with  fine  spider-webs. 
Irving,  speaking  of  the  house,  says:  "The  walls  of 
its  squalid  chambers  are  covered  with  names  and 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


13 


inscriptions  in  every  language,  by  pilgrims  of  all 
nations,  ranks  and  conditions — from  the  prince  to 
the  peasant — and  present  a  simple  but  striking 
instance  of  the  spontaneous  and  universal  homage 
of  mankind  to  the  great  Poet  of  Nature."  Books  for 
entry  of  names  are  now  kept. 

In  the  adjoining  public-house,  when  Ireland  visited 
it  in  1792,  was  a  square  of  glass,  upon  which  was 
painted  the  arms  of  the  Merchants  of  the  Wool 
Staple,  which  he  considered  to  be  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  the  trade  of  Shakespeare's  father,  who 
by  some  authors  was  said  to  have  been  a  dealer  ip 
wool.  Aubrey  assures  us  he  was  a  butcher.  Mr. 
Knight  has  clearly  pointed  out  the  likely  origin 
of  both  stories,  in  the  custom  of  landed  proprietors 
like  John  Shakespeare,  selling  their  own  cattle  and 
wool.  The  glass  was  brought  there  from  the  Guild 
Chapel ;  it  therefore  has  no  connection  with  Shake- 
speare. 

In  a  lower  room  of  the  public-house,  Ireland  also 
saw  "  a  curious,  ancient  monument  above  the  chim- 
ney, relieved  in  plaster;  which,  from  the  date,  1606, 
that  was  originally  marked  on  it,  was  probably  put 
up  at  the  time,  and  possibly  by  the  poet  himself. 
In  1759  it  was  repaired  and  painted  in  a  variety  of 
colors,  by  the  old  Mr.  Thomas  Harte,  before  men- 
tioned." Upon  the  scroll  over  the  figures  was  in- 
scribed, "Samuel  XVII.  a.d.  1606;"  and  round 
the  border,  in  a  "  continuous  line,  was  this  stanza, 
in  black  letter : — 


14  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE, 

"  Golith  comes  with  sword  and  spear, 
And  David  with  a  sling  ; 
Although  Golith  rage  and  sweare, 
Down  David  doth  him  bring.  " 

Ireland  gives  an  engraving  of  this  solitary  frag- 
ment of  the  interior  decoration  of  Shakespeare's 
house,  although  we  much  question  the  propriety  of 
imagining  the  possibility  of  Shakespeare  placing  such 
ludicrous  doggerel  there.  The  house  was  at  that 
time  occupied  by  his  sister,  and  she  most  probably 
resided  in  the  other  half  of  this  then  large  tenement ; 
so  that  neither  may  have  been  guilty  of  it.  The  bas- 
relief  was  carried  away  some  years  ago  by  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  inn.  The  font  in  which  the  poet  was 
christened  is  now  but  a  fragment,  the  upper  portion 
only.  The  same  style  was  adojDted  with  singular 
good  taste  for  the  new  font  in  the  church,  which  may 
therefore  be  considered  as  a  restoration  of  it.  Mr. 
Knight  has  thus  given  its  history  :  "  The  parochial 
accounts  of  Stratford  show  that  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  a  new  font  was  set  up  \  the 
beautiful  relic  of  an  older  time,  from  which  William 
Shakespeare  had  received  the  baptismal  water,  was, 
after  many  years,  found  in  the  old  charnel  house. 
When  that  was  pulled  down,  it  was  kicked  into  the 
church-yard,  and  half  a  century  ago  was  removed 
by  the  parish-clerk  to  form  the  trough  of  a  pump  at 
his  cottage .  Of  the  parish-clerk  it  was  bought  by  the 
late  Captain  Saunders,  and  from  his  possession 
came  into  that  of  the  present  owner,  Mr.  Heritage,  a 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  1 5 

builder  at  Stratford."  It  is  still  in  his  possession. 
The  font  shown  at  the  Shakespeare  Arms,  is  reported 
to  have  been  brought  from  the  neighboring  church 
of  Bidford. 

From  the  house  where  Shakespeare  was  born  to 
the  place  where  he  obtained  his  "  small  Latin  and 
less  Greek,"  is  but  a  short  distance. 

The  Grammar  School 

is  situated  in  the  High  Street,  beside  the  chapel  of 
the  Guild,  or  of  the  Holy  Cross,  a  good  specimen  of 
the  ecclesiastical  architecture  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
Vn. ;  and  the  interior  of  which  was  originally  decor- 
ated with  a  series  of  remarkable  paintings ;  the  prin- 
cipal being  the  legendary  history  of  the  holy  cross. 
In  this  chapel,  at  one  time,  the  school  was  held ;  and 
an  order  in  the  corporation  books,  dated  February, 
1594,  directs  *'  that  there  shall  be  no  school  kept  in 
the  chapel  from  this  time  following."  The  occupa- 
tion of  the  chapel  as  a  school  may  have  been  but  a 
temporary  thing  ;  but  Shakespeare  may  have  imbibed 
some  portion  of  his  learning  within  its  walls.  The 
foundation  of  the  grammar  school  took  place  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV.  In  1482,  Thomas  Joliffe  gave 
certain  lands  and  tenements  to  the  Guild  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  to  maintain  "  a  priest  fit  and  able  in 
knowledge  to  teach  grammar  to  all  scholars  coming 
to  the  school  in  the  said  town  to  him,  taking  noth- 
ing of  the  scholars  for  their  teaching."  On  the  dis- 
solution  of  the  Guild,  Edward  VI,  in  the  seventh 


l6  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

year  of  his  reign,  ordered  that  "  the  free  grammar 
school  for  the  instruction  and  education  of  boys  and 
youth  there,  should  be  thereafter  kejDt  up  and  main- 
tained as  heretofore  it  used  to  be." 

The  Latin  school-room  is  situated  over  the  old 
Guildhall,  and  is  that  portion  of  the  building  near- 
est the  chapel.  It  is  a  perfectly  plain  room,  with  a 
low  plastered  ceiling  ;  but  from  the  massive  beams  at 
the  sides  of  room,  and  those  above  the  modern 
plaster,  to  which  the  struts  from  the  side  beams  form 
the  support,  as  well  as  from  the  external  appearance  of 
the  deeply  pitched  roof,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
an  open  timber  roof  originally  decorated  this  apart- 
ment. 

The  Mathematical  school-room  beside  it,  has  a 
flat  roof,  crossed  by  two  beams  of  the  Tudor  era ; 
and  in  the  centre  of  the  roof,  where  they  meet  each 
other,  is  a  circular  ornament  or  boss.  The  school 
has  been  recently  repaired,  and  it  has  entirely  lost 
its  look  of  antiquity. 

A  few  years  ago  there  were  many  very  old  desks 
and  forms  there  ;  and  one  among  them  was  termed 
Shakespeare's  desk.  It  is  now  kept  below.  The 
tradition  which  assigned  it  to  Shakespeare  may  be  very 
questionable  ;  its  being  the  oldest  and  in  the  worst 
condition  may  have  been  the  reason  for  such  an  ap- 
propriation. The  boys  of  the  school  very  generally 
carried  away  some  portion  of  it  as  a  memento,  and 
the  relic-hunters  frequently  behaved  as  boyishly,  so 
that  a   great   portion   of   the   old   wood   has   been 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  17 

abstracted.  The  court-yard  of  tlie  school  presented 
many  features  of  interest ;  but  the  hand  of  modern 
"  improvement  "  has  swept  them  away. 

In  1840  the  schools  were  approached  by  an  antique 
external  stair,  roofed  with  tile,  and  up  which  the  boys 
had  ascended  from  the  time  of  Shakespeare.  This 
characteristic  feature  has  passed  away.  The  court- 
yard has  been  subdivided  and  walled  ;  and  the 
original  character  of  this  portion  of  the  building  has 
departed  for  ever.  For  the  mementoes  of  Shake- 
speare's later  life,  we  must  look  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Stratford.  Tradition  assigns  adventures  and  visits 
to  many  places  in  its  vicinity  ;  but  the  most  import- 
ant locality  with  which  his  name  is  connected  is  the 
Park  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy  at 

Charlecote. 

Charlecote  was  the  scene  of  his  deer-stealing  adven- 
tures, which  led,  says  tradition,  to  his  quarrel  with 
Sir  Thomas,  to  a  lampoon  by  the  poet,  which  occa- 
sioned him  to  leave  Stratford  for  London  in  greater 
haste  than  he  wished,  and  produced  his  connection 
with  the  theatres.  Of  these  tales  we  must  speak  further 
on.  But  first  let  us  say  a  few  words  on  this  ancient 
mansion.  Dugdale  has  given  the  history  of  Charlecote 
and  its  lords  with  much  minuteness.  It  is  mentioned  in 
Domesday  Book,  and  its  old  Saxon  name  Ceorlcote— 
the  home  of  the  husbandman — carries  us  back  to 
years  before  the  Conquest.  The  present  house  was 
built  in  1558  by  Thomas  Lucy,who  in  1593  was  knight- 


l8  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

ed  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  It  stands  at  a  short  distance 
from,  and  at  some  little  elevation  above,  the  river 
Avon.  The  building  forms  three  sides  of  a  quad- 
rangle, the  fourth  being  occupied  by  a  handsome 
central  gate  house,  some  distance  in  advance  of  the 
main  building.  The  octangular  turrets  on  each  side, 
and  the  oriel  window  over  the  gate  are  peculiar  and 
pleasing  features.  The  house  retains  its  gables  and 
angular  towers,  but  has  suffered  from  the  introduction 
of  the  large  and  heavy  sash  windows  of  the  time  of 
William  III.  or  George  I.  In  Thomas'  edition  of 
Dugdale's  Warunckshire,  published  in  1730,  there  is 
an  interesting  "  East  prospect  of  Charlecote,"  drawn 
by  H.  Beighton  in  1722,  which  gives  a  curious  bird's- 
eye  view  of  the  entire  house  and  gardens  in  their 
original  state  \  that  is,  the  state  in  which  Shakspeare 
saw  them.  Any  modernization  has  affected  the  interior 
principally ;  the  exterior  aspect  is  now  much  the  same 
as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  poet. 

Washington  Irving  thus  describes  Charlecote  in  his 
"  Sketch  Book  :  " 

"  I  had  now  visited  the  usual  objects  of  a  pilgrim's 
devotion,  but  I  had  a  desire  to  see  the  old  family 
seat  of  the  Lucys,  at  Charlecot,  and  to  ramble 
through  the  park  where  Shakespeare,  in  company 
with  some  of  the  roysters  of  Stratford,  committed  his 
youthful  offense  of  deer-stealing.  In  this  harebrained 
exploit  we  are  told  that  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
carried  to  the  keeper's  lodge,  where  he  remained  all 
night  in  doleful  captivity.     When  brought  into  the 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


19 


presence  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy,  his  treatment  must 
have  been  gallinj^  and  humiliating  ;  for  it  so  wrought 
upon  his  spirit  as  to  produce  a  rough  pasquinade, 
which  was  affixed  to  the  park  gate  at  Charlecot.* 

This  flagitious  attack  upon  the  dignity  of  the 
knight  so  incensed  him,  that  he  appHed  to  a  lawyer 
at  Warwick  to  put  the  severity  of  the  laws  in  force 
against  the  rhyming  deer-stalker.  Shakespeare  did 
not  wait  to  brave  the  united  puissance  of  a  knight  of 
the  shire  and  a  country  attorney.  He  forthwith 
abandoned  the  pleasant  banks  of  the  Avon  and 
his  paternal  trade  ;  wandered  away  to  London ;  be- 
came a  hanger-on  to  the  theatres  ;  then  an  actor ; 
and,  finally,  wrote  for  the  stage  ;  and  thus,  through 
the  persecution  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy,  Stratford  lost 
an  indifferent  wool-comber,  and  the  world  gained  an 
immortal  poet.  He  retained,  however,  for  a  long 
time,  a  sense  of  the  harsh  treatment  of  the  Lord  of 
Charlecot,  and  revenged  himself  in  his  writings  ;  but 
in  the  sportive  way  of  a  good-natured  mind.  Sir 
Thomas  is  said  to  be  the  original  Justice  Shallow, 

*  The  following  is  the  only  stanza  extant  of  this  lampoon  ; 
A  parliament  member,  a  justice  of  peace, 
At  home  a  poor  scarecrow,  at  London  an  asse, 
If  lowsie  is  Lucy,  as  some  volke  miscalle  it, 
Then  Lucy  is  lowsie,  whatever  befall  it. 

He  thinks  himself  great; 

Yet  an  asse  in  his  state, 
We  allow  by  his  ears  but  with  asses  to  mate, 
If  Lucy  is  lowsie,  as  some  volke  miscalle  it, 
Then  sing  lowsie  Lucy  whatever  befall  it. 


20  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

and  the  satire  is  slyly  fixed  upon  him  by  the  justice's 
armorial  bearings,  which,  like  those  of  the  knight, 
had  white  luces*  in  the  quarterings. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  by  his  biogra- 
phers to  soften  and  explain  away  this  early  trans- 
gression of  the  poet ;  but  I  look  upon  it  as  one  of 
those  thoughtless  exploits  natural  to  his  situation 
and  turn  of  mind.  Shakespeare,  when  young,  had 
doubtless  all  the  wildness  and  irregularity  of  an 
ardent,  undisciplined,  and  undirected  genius.  The 
poetic  temperament  has  naturally  something  in  it  of 
the  vagabond.  When  left  to  itself  it  runs  loosely  and 
wildly,  and  delights  in  everything  eccentric  and 
licentious.  It  is  often  a  turn-up  of  a  die,  in  the 
gambling  freaks  of  fate,  whether  a  natural  genius 
shall  turn  out  a  great  rogue  or  a  great  poet ;  and 
had  not  Shakespeare's  mind  fortunately  taken  a  liter- 
ary bias,  he  might  have  as  daringly  transcended  all 
civil,  as  he  has  all  dramatic  laws. 

I  have  little  doubt  that,  in  early  life,  when  running, 
like  an  unbroken  colt,  about  the  neighborhood  of 
Stratford,  he  was  to  be  found  in  the  company  of  all 
kinds  of  odd  anomalous  characters  ;  that  he  asso- 
ciated with  all  the  madcaps  of  the  place,  and  was 
one  of  those  unlucky  urchins,  at  mention  of  whom 
old  men  shake  their  heads,  and  predict  that  they  will 
one  day  come  to  the  gallows.  To  him  the  poaching 
in  Sir  Thomas  Lucy's  park  was    doubtless  like  a 

*  The  luce  is  a  pike  or  jack,  and  abounds  in  the  Avon  aboul 
Chailecot. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  21 

foray  to  a  Scottish  knight,  and  struck  his  eager,  and 
as  yet  untamed,  imagination,  as  something  dehght- 
fully  adventurous.  * 

*  A  proof  of  Shakspeare's  random  habits  and  associates  in  his 
youthful  days  may  be  found  in  a  traditionary  anecdote,  picked 
up  at  Stratford  by  the  elder  Ireland  and  mentioned  in  his  "  Pic- 
turesque Views  on  the  Avon." 

About  seven  miles  from  Stratford  lies  the  thirsty  little 
market-town  of  Bidford,  famous  for  its  ale.  Two  societies  of 
the  village  yeomanry  used  to  meet,  under  the  appellation  of  the 
Bidford  topers,  and  to  challenge  the  lovers  of  good  ale  of  the 
neighboring  villages  to  a  contest  of  drinking.  Among  others, 
the  people  of  Stratford  were  called  out  to  prove  the  strength 
of  their  heads  ;  and  in  the  number  of  the  champions  was  Shake- 
speare, who,  in  spite  of  the  proverb  that  "  they  who  drink  beer 
will  think  beer,"  was  as  true  to  his  ale  as  Falstaff  to  his  sack. 
The  chivalry  of  Stratford  was  staggered  at  the  first  onset,  and 
sounded  a  retreat  while  they  had  yet  legs  to  carry  them  off  the 
field.  They  had  scarcely  marched  a  mile  when,  their  legs  fail- 
ing them,  they  were  forced  to  lie  down  under  a  crab-tree,  where 
they  passed  the  night.  It  is  still  standing,  and  goes  by  the 
name  of  Sliakespeare's  tree. 

In  the  morning  his  companions  awakened  the  bard,  and  pro- 
posed returning  to  Bidford,  but  he  declined,  saying  he  had 
had  enough,  having  drank  with 

Piping  Pebworth,  Dancing  Marston, 
Haunted  Hilbro',  Hungry  Grafton, 
Dudging  Exhall,  Papist  Wicksford, 
Beggarly  Broom,  and  Drunken  Bidford. 
"The  villages  here  alluded  to,"  says  Ireland,  "still  bear  the 
epithets  thus  given  them :  the  people  of  Pebworth  are  still 
famed  for  their  skill  on  the  pipe  and  tabor:  Hilborough  is  now 
called  Haunted   Hilborough;  and  Grafton  is  famous  for  the 
poverty  of  its  soil." 


22  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

The  old  manor  of  Charlecot  and  its  surrounding 
park  still  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  Lucy 
family,  and  are  peculiarly  interesting,  from  being 
connected  with  this  whimsical  but  eventful  circum- 
stance in  the  scanty  history  of  the  bard.  As  the 
house  stood  but  little  more  than  three  miles'  dis- 
tance from  Stratford,  I  resolved  to  pay  it  a  pedes- 
trian visit,  that  I  might  stroll  leisurely  through  some 
of  those  scenes  from  which  Shakespeare  must  have 
derived  his  earliest  ideas  of  rural  imagery. 

The  country  was  yet  naked  and  leafless ;  but 
English  scenery  is  always  verdant,  and  the  sudden 
change  in  the  temperature  of  the  weather  was  sur- 
prising in  its  quickening  effects  upon  the  landscape. 
It  was  inspiring  and  animating  to  witness  this  first 
awakening  of  spring ;  to  feel  its  warm  breath  steal- 
ing over  the  senses  ;  to  see  the  moist,  mellow  earth 
beginning  to  put  forth  the  green  sprout  and  the 
tender  blade  ;  and  the  trees  and  shrubs,  in  their  re- 
viving tints  and  bursting  buds,  giving  the  promise 
of  returning  foliage  and  flower.  The  cold  snowdrop, 
that  little  borderer  on  the  skirts  of  winter,  was  to  be 
seen  with  its  chaste  white  blossoms  in  the  small 
gardens  before  the  cottages.  The  bleating  of  the 
new-dropt  lambs  was  faintly  heard  from  the  fields. 
The  sparrow  twittered  about  the  thatched  eaves  and 
budding  hedges  ;  the  robin  threw  a  livelier  note  into 
his  late  querulous  wintry  strain  ;  and  the  lark,  spring- 
ing up  from  the  reeking  bosom  of  the  meadow, 
towered  away  into  the  bright  fleecy  cloud,  pouring 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


23 


forth  torrents  of  melody.  As  I  watched  the  little 
songster,  mounting  up  higher  and  higher,  until  his 
body  was  a  mere  speck  on  the  white  bosom  of  the 
cloud,  while  the  ear  was  still  filled  with  his  music,  it 
called  to  mind  Shakespeare's  exquisite  little  song  in 
Cymbeline : — 

Hark !  hark  !  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings, 

And  Phoebus  'gins  arise, 
His  steeds  to  water  at  those  springs, 

On  chaliced  flowers  that  lies. 

And  winking  mary-buds  begin 

To  ope  their  golden  eyes  ; 
With  everything  that  pretty  bin, 

My  lady  sweet  arise  ! 

Indeed  the  whole  country  about  here  is  poetic 
ground  :  everything  is  associated  with  the  idea  of 
Shakespeare.  Every  old  cottage  that  I  saw,  I  fancied 
into  some  resort  of  his  boyhood,  where  he  had  ac- 
quired his  intimate  knowledge  of  rustic  life  and 
manners,  and  heard  those  legendary  tales  and  wild 
superstitions  which  he  has  woven  like  witchcraft 
into  his  dramas.  For  in  his  time,  we  are  told,  it 
was  a  popular  amusement  in  winter  evenings  "  to 
sit  round  the  fire,  and  tell  merry  tales  of  errant 
knights,  queens,  lovers,  lords,  ladies,  giants,  dwarfs, 
thieves,  cheaters,  witches,  fairies,  goblins,  and 
friars."  * 

*  Scot,  in  his  "  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft,"  enumerates  a  host 
of  these  fireside  fancies.  "  And  they  have  so  fraid  us  with 
bull-beggars,    spirits,   witches,   urchins,    elves,   hags,    fairies. 


24 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


My  route  for  part  of  the  way  lay  ir,  sight  of  the 
Avon,  which  made  a  variety  of  the  most  fancy  doub- 
lings and  windings  through  a  wide  and  fertile  valley  ; 
sometimes  glittering  from  among  willows,  which 
fringed  its  borders  ;  sometimes  disappearing  among 
groves,  or  beneath  green  banks  ;  and  sometimes 
rambling  out  into  full  view,  and  making  an  azure 
sweep  round  a  slope  of  meadow  land.  This  beauti- 
ful bosom  of  country  is  called  the  Vale  of  the  Red 
Horse.  A  distant  line  of  undulating  blue  hills  seems 
to  be  its  boundary,  whilst  all  the  soft  intervening 
landscape  lies  in  a  manner  enchained  in  the  silver 
links  of  the  Avon. 

After  pursuing  the  road  for  about  three  miles,  I 
turned  off  into  a  footpath,  which  led  along  the  bor- 
ders of  fields,  and  under  hedgerows  to  a  jorivate  gate 
of  the  park  ;  there  was  a  stile,  however,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  pedestrian  ;  there  being  a  public  right 
of  way  through  the  grounds.  I  delight  in  these 
hospitable  estates,  in  which  every  one  has  a  kind  of 
property — at  least  as  far  as  the  footpath  is  concern- 
ed. It  in  some  measure  reconciles  a  poor  man  to  his 
lot,  and,  what  is  more,  to  the  better  lot  of  his  neigh- 
bor, thus  to  have  parks  and  pleasure-grounds  thrown 

satyrs,  pans,  faiines,  syrens,  kit  with  the  can  sticke,  tritons, 
centaurs,  dwarfes,  giantes,  imps,  calcars,  conjurors,  nymphes, 
changelings,  incubus,  Robin-good-fellow,  the  spoorne,  the  mare, 
the  man  in  the  oke,  the  hell-waine,  the  fier  drake,  the  puckle, 
Tom  Thombe,  hobgoblins,  Tom  Tumbler,  boneless,  and  such 
other  bugs,  that  we  were  afraid  of  our  own  shadowes." 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


25 


open  for  his  recreation.  He  breathes  the  pure  air 
as  freely,  and  lolls  as  luxuriously  under  the  shade,  as 
the  lord  of  the  soil  ;  and  if  he  has  not  the  privilege 
of  calling  all  that  he  sees  his  own,  he  has  not,  at  the 
same  time,  the  trouble  of  paying  for  it,  and  keeping 
it  in  order. 

I  now  found  myself  among  noble  avenues  of  oaks 
and  elms,  whose  vast  size  bespoke  the  growth  of 
centuries.  The  wind  sounded  solemnly  among  their 
branches,  and  the  rooks  cawed  from  their  hereditary 
nests  in  the  tree-tops.  The  eye  ranged  through  a 
long,  lessening  vista,  with  nothing  to  interrupt  the 
view  but  a  distant  statue  ;  and  a  vagrant  deer  stalk- 
ing like  a  shadow  across  the  opening. 

There  is  something  about  these  stately  old  avenues 
that  has  the  effect  of  Gothic  architecture,  not  merely 
from  the  pretended  similarity  of  form,  but  from  their 
bearing  the  evidence  of  long  duration,  and  of  having 
had  their  origin  in  a  period  of  time  with  which  we 
associate  ideas  of  romantic  grandeur.  They  betoken 
also  the  long-settled  dignity,  and  proudly  concentra- 
ted independence  of  an  ancient  family ;  and  I  have 
heard  a  worthy  but  aristocratic  old  friend  observe, 
when  speaking  of  the  sumptuous  palaces  of  modern 
gentry,  that  "  money  could  do  much  with  stone  and 
mortar,  but,  thank  Heaven,  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  suddenly  building  up  an  avenue  of  oaks." 

It  was  from  wandering  in  early  life  among  this 
rich  scenery,  and  about  the  romantic  solitudes  of 
the  adjoining  park  of  Fullbroke,  which  then  formed 


26  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

a  part  of  the  Lucy  estate,  that  some  of  Shakespeare's 
commentators  have  supposed  he  derived  his  noble 
forest  meditations  of  Jaques,  and  the  enchanting 
woodland  pictures  in  "  As  You  Like  It."  It  is  in 
lonely  wanderings  through  such  scenes,  that  the 
mind  drinks  deep  but  quiet  draughts  of  inspiration, 
and  becomes  intensely  sensible  of  the  beauty  and 
majesty  of  nature.  The  imagination  kindles  into 
reverie  and  rapture  ;  vague  but  exquisite  images  and 
ideas  keep  breaking  upon  it  \  and  we  revel  in  a  mute 
and  almost  incommunicable  luxury  of  thought.  It 
was  in  some  such  mood,  and  perhaps  under  one  of 
those  very  trees  before  me,  which  threw  their  broad 
shades  over  the  grassy  banks  and  quivering  waters 
of  the  Avon,  that  the  poet's  fancy  may  have  sallied 
forth  into  that  little  song  which  breathes  the  very 
soul  of  a  rural  voluptuary  : — 

UnJer  the  greenwood  tree 
Wlio  loves  to  lie  with  me, 
And  tune  his  merry  tliroat 
Unto  tlie  sweet  bird's  note, 
Come  hither,  come  hither,  come  hither. 

Here  shall  he  see 

No  enemy, 
But  winter  and  rough  weather. 

I  had  now  come  in  sight  of  the  house.  It  is  a 
large  building  of  brick,  with  stone  quoins,  and  is  in 
the  Gothic  style  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  day,  having 
been  built  in  the  first  year  of  her  reign.  The  exterior 
remains  very  nearly  in  its  original  state,  and  may  be 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


7 


considered  a  fair  specimen  of  the  residence  of  a 
wealthy  country  gentleman  of  those  days.  A  great 
gateway  opens  from  the  "park  into  a  kind  of  court- 
yard in  front  of  the  house,  ornamented  with  a  grass- 
plot,  shrubs,  and  flower-beds.  The  gateway  is  in 
imitation  of  the  ancient  barbican  ;  being  a  kind  of 
outpost,  and  flanked  by  towers ;  though  evidently 
for  mere  ornament,  instead  of  defence.  The  front 
of  the  house  is  completely  in  the  old  style  ;  with 
stone-shafted  casements,  a  great  bow-window  of 
heavy  stone-work,  and  a  portal  with  armorial  bear- 
ings over  it,  carved  in  stone.  At  each  corner  of  the 
building  is  an  octagon  tower,  surmounted  by  a  gilt 
ball  and  weathercock. 

The  Avon,  which  winds  through  the  park,  makes 
a  bend  just  at  the  foot  of  a  gently  slojDing  bank, 
which  sweeps  down  from  the  rear  of  the  house. 
Large  herds  of  deer  were  feeding  or  reposing  upon 
its  borders  ;  and  swans  were  sailing  majestically 
upon  its  bosom.  As  I  contemplated  the  venerable 
old  mansion,  I  called  to  mind  Falstaff's  encomium 
on  Justice  Shallow's  abode,  and  the  affected  indif- 
ference and  real  vanity  of  the  latter  : 

"  Fahtaff.     You  have  a  goodly  dwelling  and  a  rich. 
"  Shallow.     Barren,  barren,  barren  ;  beggars  all,  beggars  all, 
Sir  John : — marry,  good  sir." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  joviality  of  the  old 
mansion  in  the  days  of  Shakespeare,  it  had  now  an 
air  of  stillness  and  solitude.  The  great  iron  gate- 
way that  opened   into  the  courtyard   was   locked ; 


28  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

there  was  no  show  of  servants  bustling  about  the 
place  ;  the  deer  gazed  quietly  at  me  as  I  passed, 
being  no  longer  harried  by  the  moss-troopers  of 
Stratford.  The  only  sign  of  domestic  life  that  I 
met  with  was  a  white  cat,  stealing  with  wary  look 
and  stealthy  pace  towards  the  stables,  as  if  on 
some  nefarious  expedition.  I  must  not  omit  to  men- 
tion the  carcass  of  a  scoundrel  crow  which  I  saw 
suspended  against  the  barn  wall,  as  it  shows  that  the 
Lucys  still  inherit  that  lordly  abhorrence  of  poachers, 
and  maintain  that  rigorous  exercise  of  territorial 
power  which  was  so  strenuously  manifested  in  the 
case  of  the  bard. 

After  prowling  about  for  some  time,  I  at  length 
found  my  way  to  a  lateral  portal,  which  was  the 
every-day  entrance  to  the  mansion.  I  was  court- 
eously received  by  a  worthy  old  housekeeper,  who, 
with  the  civility  and  communicativeness  of  her  order, 
showed  me  the  interior  of  the  house.  The  greater 
part  has  undergone  alterations,  and  been  adapted  to 
modern  tastes  and  modes  of  living.  There  is  a  fine 
old  oaken  staircase  ;  and  the  great  hall,  that  noble 
feature  in  an  ancient  manor-house,  still  retains 
much  of  the  appearance  it  must  have  had  in  the  days 
of  Shakespeare.  The  ceiling  is  arched  and  lofty  ; 
and  at  one  end  is  a  gallery,  in  which  stands  an 
organ.  The  weapons  and  trophies  of  the  chase, 
which  formerly  adorned  the  hall  of  a  country  gentle- 
man, have  made  way  for  family  portraits.  There  is 
a  wide,  hospitable  fire-place,  calculated  for  an  ample 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  oc) 

old-fashioned  wood  fire,  formerly  the  rallying  place 
of  winter  festivity.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  hall 
is  the  huge  Gothic  bow-window,  with  stone  shafts, 
which  looks  out  upon  the  courtyard.  Here  are 
emblazoned,  in  stained  glass,  the  armorial  bearings 
of  the  Lucy  family  for  many  generations,  some  being 
dated  in  1558.  I  was  delighted  to  observe  in  the 
quarterings  the  three  7v/iite  luces,  by  which  the  char- 
acter of  Sir  Thomas  was  first  identified  with  that  of 
Justice  Shallow.  They  are  mentioned  in  the  first  scene 
of  the  "  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  where  the  Justice 
is  in  a  rage  with  Falstaff  for  having  "beaten  his 
men,  killed  his  deer,  and  broken  into  his  lodge." 
The  poet  had,  no  doubt,  the  offences  of  himself  and 
his  comrades  in  mind  at  the  time,  and  we  may  sup- 
pose the  family  pride  and  vindictive  threats  of  the 
puissant  Shallow  to  be  a  caricature  of  the  pompous 
indignation  of  Sir  Thomas. 

"  Shallow.  Sir  Hugh,  persuade  me  not  ;  I  will  make  a  Star 
Chamber  matter  of  it ;  if  he  were  twenty  John  Falstaffs,  he 
shall  not  abuse  Sir  Robert  Shallow,  Esq. 

Slender,  In  the  county  of  Gloster,  justice  of  peace,  and 
Coram. 

Shalloiv.     Ay,  cousin  Slender,  and  custalonim. 

Slender.  Ay,  and  rataloritm  too,  and  a  gentleman  born, 
master  parson;  who  writes  himself  Armigero  in  any  bill,  war- 
rant, quittance,  or  obligation,  Armigero. 

Shallow.  Ay,  that  I  do  ;  and  have  done  any  time  these  three 
hundred  years. 

Slender.  All  his  successors  gone  before  him  have  done  't, 
and  all  his  ancestors  that  come  after  him  may  ;  they  may  give 
the  dozen  white-luces  in  their  coat.  ***** 


3° 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


Shallow.     The  council  shall  hear  it ;  it  is  a  riot. 

Evans.  It  is  not  meet  the  council  hear  of  a  riot ;  there  is  no 
fear  of  Got  in  a  riot ;  the  council,  hear  you,  shall  desire  to  hear 
the  fear  of  Got,  and  not  to  hear  a  riot ;  take  your  vizaments  in 
that. 

Shallow.  Ha  !  o'  my  life,  if  I  were  young  again,  the  sword 
should  end  it !  " 

Near  the  window  thus  emblazoned  hung  a  portrait 
by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  of  one  of  the  Lucy  family,  a  great 
beauty  of  the  time  of  Charles  the  Second.  The  old 
housekeeper  shook  her  head  as  she  pointed  to  the 
picture,  and  informed  me  that  this  lady  had  been 
sadly  addicted  to  cards,  and  had  gambled  away  a 
great  portion  of  the  family  estate,  among  which  was 
that  part  of  the  park  where  Shakspeare  and  his  com- 
rades had  killed  the  deer.  The  lands  thus  lost  had 
not  been  entirely  regained  by  the  family  even  at  the 
present  day.  It  is  but  justice  to  this  recreant  dame 
to  confess  that  she  had  a  surpassingly  fine  hand  and 
arm. 

The  picture  which  most  attracted  my  attention 
was  a  great  painting  over  the  fireplace,  containing 
likenesses  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy  and  his  family,  who 
inhabited  the  hall  in  the  latter  part  of  Shakespeare's 
lifetime.  I  at  first  thought  that  it  was  the  vindictive 
knight  himself,  but  the  housekeeper  assured  me  that 
it  was  his  son  ;  the  only  likeness  extant  of  the  for- 
mer being  an  effigy  upon  his  tomb  in  the  church  of 
the  neighboring  hamlet  of  Charlecot.*     The  picture 

*  This  effigy  is  in  white  marble,  and  represents  the  Knight 
in  complete  armor.     Near  him  lies  the  effigy  of  his  wife,  and  on 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESrEARE.  31 

gives  a  lively  idea  of  the  customs  and  manners  of 
the  time.  Sir  Thomas  is  dressed  in  ruff  and  doub- 
let ;  white  shoes  with  roses  in  them ;  and  has  a 
peaked  yellow,  or,  as  Master  Slender  would  say,  "  a 
cane-colored  beard."  His  lady  is  seated  on  the 
opjoosite  side  of  the  picture,  in  wide  rufif  and  long 
stomacher,  and  the  children  have  a  most  venerable 
stiffness  and  formality  of  dress.  Hounds  and  span- 
iels are  mingled  in  the  family  group  ;  a  hawk  is 
seated  on  his  perch  in  the  foreground,  and  one  of 
the  children  holds  a  bow  ;  all  intimating  the  knight's 

her  tomb  is  the  following  inscription,  which,  if  really  composed 
by  her  husband,  places  him  quite  above  the  intellectual  level 
of  Master  Shallow  : — 

"  Here  lyeth  the  Lady  Joyce  Lucy,  wife  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy 
of  Charlecot  in  ye  county  of  Warwick,  Knight,  Daughter  and 
heir  of  Thomas  Acton  of  Sutton  in  ye  county  of  Worcester 
Esquire,  who  departed  out  of  this  wretched  world  to  her 
heavenly  kingdom  ye  10  day  of  February  in  ye  yeare  of  our 
Lord  God  1595  and  of  her  age  60  and  three.  All  the  time  of 
her  lyfe  a  true  and  faythf ul  servant  of  her  good  God,  never 
detected  of  any  cryme  or  vice.  In  religion  most  sounde,  in  love 
to  her  husband  most  faythful  and  true.  In  friendship  most 
constant ;  to  what  in  trust  was  committed  unto  her  most  secret. 
In  wisdom  excelling.  In  governing  of  her  house,  bringing  up 
of  youth  in  ye  fear  of  God  that  did  converse  with  her  most  rare 
and  singular.  A  great  maintayner  of  hospitality.  Greatly 
esteemed  of  her  betters  ;  misliked  of  none  unless  of  the  envy- 
ous.  When  all  is  spoken  that  can  be  saide  a  woman  so  gar- 
nished with  virtue  as  not  to  be  bettered  and  hardly  to  be 
equalled  by  any.  As  shee  lived  most  virtuously  so  shee  died 
most  Godly.  Set  downe  by  him  yt  best  did  knovve  what  hath 
byn  written  to  be  true. 

Thomas  Lucye. 


32  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

skill  in  hunting,  hawking,  and  archery — so  indispen- 
sable to  an  accomplished  gentleman  in  those  days.* 
I  regretted  to  find  that  the  ancient  furniture  of  the 
hall  had  disappeared;  for  I  had  hoped  to  meet  with 
the  stately  elbow-chair  of  carved  oak,  in  which  the 
country  squire  of  former  days  was  wont  to  sway  the 
sceptre  of  empire  over  his  rural  domains  ;  and  in 
which,  it  might  be  presumed,  the  redoubted  Sir 
Thomas  sat  enthroned  in  awful  state  when  the  recre- 
ant Shakspeare  was  brought  before  him.  As  I  like  to 
deck  out  pictures  for  my  own  entertainment,  I  pleased 
myself  with  the  idea  that  this  very  hall  had  been  the 
scene  of  the  unlucky  bard's  examination  on  the 
morning  after  his  captivity  in  the  lodge.  I  fancied 
to  myself  the  rural  potentate,  surrounded  by  his 
body-guard  of  butler,  pages,  and  blue-coated  serving- 
men,  with  their  badges  ;  while  the  luckless  culprit 
was  brought  in,  forlorn  and  chopfallen,  in  the  cus- 


*  Bishop  Earle,  speaking  of  the  country  gentleman  of  his 
time,  observes,  "  his  housekeeping  is  seen  much  in  the  differ- 
ent famiHes  of  dogs,  and  serving  men  attendant  on  their  ken- 
nels ;  and  the  deepness  of  their  throats  is  the  depth  of  his  dis- 
course. A  hawk  he  esteems  the  true  burden  of  nobility,  and  is 
exceedingly  ambitious  to  seem  delighted  with  the  sport,  and 
have  his  fist  gloved  with  his  jesses."  And  Gilpin,  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  a  Mr.  Hastings,  remarks,  "  he  kept  all  sorts  of  hounds 
that  run  buck,  fo.K,  hare,  otter,  and  badger ;  and  had  hawks  of 
all  kinds,  both  long  and  short-winged.  His  great  hall  was  com- 
monly strewed  with  marrow-bones,  and  full  of  hawk-perches, 
hounds,  spaniels,  and  terriers.  On  a  broad  hearth,  paved  with 
brick,  lay  some  of  the  choicest  terriers,  hounds,  and  spaniels." 


THE  HOME  OE  SIIAKESEEARE. 


ZZ 


tod}^  of  gamekeepers,  huntsmen,  and  whippers-in, 
and  followed  by  a  rabble  rout  of  country  clowns.  I 
fancied  bright  faces  of  curious  housemaids  peeping 
from  the  half-opened  doors  ;  while  from  the  gallery 
the  fair  daughters  of  the  knight  leaned  gracefully 
forward,  eyeing  the  youthful  prisoner  with  that  pity 
"  that  dwells  in  womanhood." — Who  would  have 
thought  that  this  poor  varlet,  thus  trembling  before 
the  brief  authority  of  a  country  squire,  and  the  sport 
of  rustic  boors,  was  soon  to  become  the  delight  of 
princes,  the  theme  of  all  tongues  and  ages,  the 
dictator  to  the  human  mind,  and  was  to  confer 
immortality  on  his  oppressor  by  a  caricature  and  a 
lampoon  ! 

I  was  now  invited  by  the  butler  to  walk  into  the 
garden,  and  I  felt  inclined  to  visit  the  orchard  and 
arbor  where  the  Justice  treated  Sir  John  Falstafif  and 
Cousin  Silence  "  to  a  last  year's  pippin  of  his  own 
grafting,  with  a  dish  of  caraways  ; "  but  I  had 
already  spent  so  much  of  the  day  in  my  ramblings 
that  I  was  obliged  to  give  up  any  further  investiga- 
tions. When  about  to  take  my  leave  I  was  gratified 
by  the  civil  entreaties  of  the  housekeeper  and  butler 
that  I  would  take  some  refreshment — an  instance  of 
good  old  hospitality  which,  I  grieve  to  say,  we  castle- 
hunters  seldom  meet  with  in  modern  days.  I  make 
no  doubt  it  is  a  virtue  which  the  present  representa- 
tive of  the  Lucys  inherits  from  his  ancestors  ;  for 
Shakespeare,  even  in  his  caricature,  makes  Justice 
Shallow  importunate  in  this  respect,  as  witness  his 
pressing  instances  to  Falstaff  : — 
3 


34 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


"By  cock  and  pye,  sir,  you  shall  not  away  to-night  *  *  *  I 
will  not  excuse  you  ;  you  shall  not  be  excused  ;  excuses  shall 
not  be  admitted ;  there  is  no  excuse  shall  serve  ;  you  shall  not 
be  excused  *  *  *  Some  pigeons,  Davy ;  a  couple  of  short- 
legged  hens  ;  a  joint  of  mutton  ;  and  any  pretty  little  tiny  kick- 
shaws, tell  William  cook." 

I  now  bade  a  reluctant  farewell  to  the  old  hall. 
My  mind  had  become  so  completely  possessed  by 
the  imaginary  scenes  and  characters  connected  with 
it,  that  I  seemed  to  be  actually  living  among  them. 
Everything  brought  them,  as  it  were,  before  my 
eyes  ;  and,  as  the  door  of  the  dining-room  opened, 
I  almost  expected  to  hear  the  feeble  voice  of  Master 
Silence  quavering  forth  his  favorite  ditty  : — 

"  'T  is  merry  in  hall,  when  beards  wag  all, 
And  welcome  merry  shrove-tide  1 " 


fy^'fJ-  ■'-  i- 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  ,r 

«J0 


Anne  Hathaway's  Cottage. 

A  quick  walk  by  a  field  path,  along  which  our 
Poet  must  have  often  wandered,  leads  to  the 
cottage  of  his  "  lady-love."  It  is  a  pleasant  walk, 
a  short  mile  from  Stratford.  Quiet  and  luxuriant  is 
the  landscape  which  meets  the  eye  all  around : 
cornfields,  and  pasture-land  and  snug  farms :  the 
quiet  old-fashioned  gables  of  Shottery  before  ;  the 
wood-embosomed  houses  of  Stratford  behind  ;  where 
from  among  the  trees  shoots  up  the  elegant  spire 
of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  English  country 
churches. 

Shottery  abounds  with  old  half-timbered  houses ; 
and  one,  now  a  little  road-side  inn,  called  "  The 
Shakespeare,"  is  a  capital  example,  and  stands  beside 
the  field-path  at  the  commencement  of  the  lane  lead- 
ing to  Anne's  house.  Proceeding  down  this  lane,  we 
cross  a  brook ;  a  few  yards  farther  and  we  reach  the 
house. 

It  is  a  long  thatched  tenement  of  timber  and  plas- 
ter, substantially  built  upon  a  foundation  of  squared 
slabs  of  lias  shale,  which  is  a  characteristic  of  the 
Warwickshire  cottages,  and  is  seen  in  Shakespeare's 
birthplace,  as  already  noted.  On  looking  up  at  the 
central  chimney,  the  spectator  may  be  startled  at 
the  date,  which  is  (I  H  1697.)  It  is  cut  on  stone,  and 
let  into  the  bricks;  and  simply  records  the  reparation 


36  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

of  the  house  by  John  Hathaway,  who  appears  to  have 
done  much  for  its  comforts,  as  we  shall  see.  But 
the  house  itself  has  come  in  for  a  share  of  the  doubts 
which  have  succeeded  the  credulity  of  past  times, 
and  it  has  been  declared  not  to  be  Anne's  father's. 
Mr.  Knight  has  sifted  the  evidence,  and  triumphantly 
disproved  the  doubt.  John  Hathaway  held  property 
at  Shottery  in  1543.  Richard  Hathaway,  the  father 
of  Anne,  was  intimate  with  Shakespeare's  father,  for 
the  latter  stood  as  his  bondman  in  an  action  at  law 
dated  1576.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Hathaways 
held  the  house  here  long  before  ;  the  purchase  was, 
however,  only  effected  in  1606.  That  Anne  should 
be  described  as  "  of  Stratford  "  in  the  marriage-bond 
is  not  singular  :  Shottery  is  but  a  hamlet  of  the  parish 
of  Stratford. 

This  house,  like  Shakespeare's  birthplace,  is  subdi- 
vided into  three  tenements.  The  square,  compact,  and 
taller  part  of  the  building  forms  one  house.  The 
other  two  are  divided  by  the  passage,  which  runs 
entirely  through  the  lower  half,  from  the  door  in 
front,  to  which  the  steps  lead,  to  that  at  the  back. 
This  passage  serves  for  both  tenements.  That  to 
the  right  on  entering  consists  of  one  large  room  be- 
low, with  a  chimney  extending  the  whole  width  of 
the  house,  with  an  oven  and  boiler ;  showing  that 
this  was  the  principal  kitchen  when  the  house  was  all 
in  one.  The  door  to  the  left  leads  into  the  parlor. 
It  is  a  large,  low-roofed  room,  ceiled  with  strong 
beams  of  timber,  and   much   resembling  the  kitchen 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  37 

of  Shakespeare's  birthplace.  A  "  bacon  cupboard  "  of 
similar  construction,  is  also  on  the  left  side  of  the 
fire-place,  upon  the  transverse  bar  of  which  is  cut 
"  I  H  •  E  H  •  I  B  •  1697,"  the  initials  of  John  Hath- 
away, his  wife  Anne,  and,  it  may  be,  the  maker  of 
the  door,  which  has  been  cut  ornamentally.  The 
first  two  initials  and  the  date  are  the  same  as  upon 
the  large  chimney,  which  belongs  to  this  room,  and 
which  has  been  already  noticed.  Upon  an  old  table 
beneath  the  window,  "  M  •  H  "  is  carved  ;  all  indica- 
tive of  the  proprietors.  Mr.  Knight  says :  "  The 
Shottery  property,  which  was  called  Hewland,  re- 
mained with  the  descendants  of  the  Hathaways  till 
1838."  The  present  resident  in  the  central  tenement 
is  the  granddaughter  of  John  Hathaway  Taylor,  a 
relative,  whose  Bible,  dated  1776,  still  lies  on  the 
dresser.  He  was  a  man  who  cared  little  for  relics, 
or  the  associations  connected  with  the  house,  which 
was  then  seldom  visited.  The  furniture,  and  a  full 
service  of  antique  pewter,  which  had  garnished  the 
dresser  for  many  years,  in  his  time  disappeared. 
When  Ireland  visited  this  cottage  in  1792  he  speaks 
of  the  descendants  of  the  family  as  "  poor  and  numer- 
ous ; "  and  at  this  time  he  saw  and  purchased  an  old 
oak  chair,  which  he  has  engraved  in  his  Picturesque 
Views  on  ike  Avon.  He  says  it  was  called  "  Shake- 
spere's  courting  chair."  With  a  similar  desire  to 
please  relic-lovers  to  that  which  has  been  already 
shown  to  have  once  existed  in  Shakspeare's  birthplace 
concerning  the  chair  there,  this  chair,  although   long 


38  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

since  gone,  has  a  successor  dignified  by  the  same 
name,  in  an  old  settle  in  the  passage  through  the 
house,  and  which  has  but  one  old  bit  of  wood,  the 
seat,  in  it.  It  is  but  fair  to  add,  that  those  who  are 
skeptical  are  not  met  by  bold  assertions  of  its  gen- 
uineness, although  there  be  no  denial  of  its  possible 
claim  to  that  quality  ;  but  all  credulous  and  believing 
persons  are  allowed  the  full  benefit  of  their  faith.  In 
addition  to  Shakespeare's  chair,Ireland  was  shown  "  a 
purse  which  had  been  likewise  his,  and  handed  down 
from  him  to  his  granddaughter.  Lady  Barnard,  and 
from  her  to  the  Hathaway  family"  then  existing.  At 
the  time  of  the  Stratford  Jubilee,  George,  the  brother 
of  David  Garrick,  purchased  from  the  old  lady  who 
then  lived  here  an  inkstand  and  a  pair  of  fringed 
gloves,  said  to  have  been  worn  by  Shakespeare.  David, 
with  his  usual  carefulness,  purchased  no  such  doubt- 
ful ware. 

The  bedroom  over  this  parlor  is  ascended  by  a 
ladder-like  stair  ;  and  here  stands  an  old  carved  bed- 
stead, certainly  as  old  as  the  Shakespearian  era.  It  is 
elaborately  and  tastefully  executed,  and  has  been 
handed  down  as  an  heir-loom  with  the  house.  In 
Ireland's  time,  the  old  woman  of  the  house,  who  was 
then  upwards  of  seventy,  declared  that  she  had  slept 
in  the  bed  from  her  childhood,  and  was  always  told 
it  had  been  there  ever  since  the  house  was  built. 
Whether  there  in  Anne's  time,  or  brought  there  since, 
it  is  ancient  enough  for  her  or  her  family  to  have 
slept  in,  and  adds  an  interest  to  the  quaint  bed-room 


THE  HOME  OE  SHAKESPEARE. 


39 


in  the  roof.  In  a  chest  beside  it  is  a  pillow-case  and 
sheet,  marked  "  E.  H.,"  and  ornamented  with  open- 
work down  the  centre  ;  they  are  of  home-spun  fabric, 
the  work  of  "  the  spinster  "  when  single  country  girls 
earned  the  name. 

The  back-view  of  the  house  is  more  picturesque 
than  the  front  one.  The  ground  rises  from  the  road 
to  a  level  with  the  back  door.  Tall  trees  over-shadow 
it,  and  a  rustic  stile  beside  them  leads  into  a 
meadow,  where  stand  some  cottages  as  old  as  the 
home  of  the  Hathaways.  There  is  much  to  interest 
the  student-lover  of  the  old  rural  life  of  England  in 
Shottery. 

From  the  period  of  Shakespeare's  marriage  to  that 
of  his  retirement  from  London,  there  is  nothing  to 
connect  him  with  Stratford  and  its  neighborhood. 
We  must  look  elsewhere.  But  with  the  natural  love 
of  a  true-hearted  man,  we  find  that  he  made  his  na- 
tive town  the  home  he  visited  whenever  he  had  the 
opportunity,  and  chose  for  his  place  of  retirement 
when  the  busy  metropolitan  duties  he  had  fulfilled 
ensured  him  competence.    In 

New  Place, 

the  house  he  had  purchased  at  the  early  age  of  t^t, 
he  died  at  that  of  52.  "He  was  wont  to  go  up  to 
his  native  country  once  a  year,"  says  x\ubrey ;  and  he 
had  so  intimately  connected  himself  with  Stratford 
by  the  purchase  of  property  and  other  things,  that 
his  mind  was  evidently  fixed  on  that  town   with  an 


40 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


endearing  affection  through  life,  and  which  led  liim 
to  look  towards  it  as  his  resting-place. 

New  Place,  we  are  informed  by  Dugdale,  was  origi- 
nally erected  by  Sir  Hugh  Clopton,  temp.  Henry  VH. 
It  was,  he  says,  "  a  fair  house,  built  of  brick  and  tim- 
ber." It  was  sold  to  the  Underbill  family,  and  was 
purchased  from  them  by  Shakespeare  in  1597,  vvho 
having  repaired  and  remodelled  it  to  his  own  mind, 
changed  the  name  to  New  Place,  which  it  retained 
until  its  demolition. 

Shakspeare,  by  his  will,  gave  it  to  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Hall,  for  her  life,  and  then  to  her  daughter  Elizabeth, 
afterwards  Lady  Barnard.  On  her  death  it  was  sold 
to  Sir  Edward  Walker,  whose  only  daughter  marry- 
ing Sir  John  Clopton,  it  again  came  into  the  hands 
of  its  ancient  possessors.  Sir  John  gave  it  to  his 
younger  son.  Sir  Hugh,  who  resided  in  it  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  and  died  there  in  Dec.  175 1.  By 
him  the  mansion  was  repaired,  and  the  modern  front 
built  to  it ;  and  here,  in  1742,  he  entertained  Macklin, 
Garrick  and  Dr.  Delaney,  beneath  the  mulberry-tree 
which  Shakespeare  had  planted  in  the  garden. 

By  Sir  Hugh's  son-in-law  the  mansion  was  sold, 
in  1753,  to  the  Rev.  F.  Gastrell,  a  man  of  unhappy 
temper,  who  being  annoyed  by  visitors  requesting  to 
see  the  mulberry-tree,  ruthlessly  cut  it  down  in  1756 
to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  showing  it.  This  ren- 
dered him  exceedingly  unpopular  in  the  town,  and  he 
resided  there  but  seldom  :  but  the  house  being  rated 
as  if  he  had  constantly  lived  there,  in  a  fit  of  ill  hu- 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


41 


mor  he  declared  that  that  house  should  never  be  as- 
sessed again, — he  pulled  it  down,  sold  the  materials, 
and  left  the  town  universally  execrated.  There  are 
no  ruins  of  the  house  as  it  was  in  Shakespeare's  time. 

The  view  so  frequently  engraved  is  an  imposition. 
Malone  first  published  it  "  from  an  ancient  survey," 
in  which  it  is  not  stated  to  represent  New  Place,  or 
any  other  place  in  particular. 

He  ordered  the  discoverer  of  this  survey,  Mr.  Jor- 
dan of  Stratford,  to  add  the  arms  of  Shakespeare  over 
the  door,  because  "they  were  likely  to  have  been 
there!"  and  to  add  "  neat  wooden  pales  "  in  fiont. 
To  which  liberal  direction  Jordan  added  the  porch  ! 
and  so  originated  this  authentic  picture.  A  view  of 
New  Place,  as  altered  by  Sir  Hugh  Clopton,  and  as 
it  appeared  previous  to  its  demolition,  may  be  seen  in 
Mr.  R.  B.  Wheler's  "  History  of  Stratford-on-Avon." 
Not  a  feature  of  the  ancient  Shakespearian  residence 
had  then  been  suffered  to  remain.  In  the  garden  of 
Mr.  Hunt,  to  whose  family  Mrs.  Gastrell  sold  the 
site  of  New  Place  in  1775,  are  two  fragments  of 
the  house.  One  is  a  stone  lintel,  the  other  a  portion 
of  sculpture,  in  stone  also,  which  may  have  been 
placed  over  a  door.  It  is  ornamented  with  a  shield, 
but  the  bearings  cannot  now  be  distinguished,  owing 
to  decay.  On  each  side  are  groups  of  flowers,  also 
much  injured  by  time. 

It  is  traditionally  reported  that  the  White  Lion  Inn 
was  built  from  the  materials  of  New  Place.  The 
panelling  of  an  entire  room  was  fitted  up  in  the  par- 


42  The  home  of  shakespeare. 

lor  of  the  Falcon  Inn  opposite,  where  it  still  remains. 
It  exhibits  a  series  of  square  sunk  panels,  covering  the 
entire  walls,  the  upper  row  being  elongated,  with  a 
plain  cornice  and  dentels  above.  From  the  similarity 
of  the  panel  and  cornice  upon  which  the  portrait  of 
Shakspeare  is  painted,  already  spoken  of  as  standing 
in  his  birth-room,  and  the  tradition  that  it  was 
brought  from  the  White  Lion  Inn,  it  may  have  been 
also  a  part  of  the  decoration  of  New  Place  when  it 
was  last  "  repaired  and  beautified." 

There  is  another  and  an  apparendy  genuine  relic 
of  New  Place  at  present  in  the  possession  of  the 
Court  family,  who  own  Shakspeare's  house.  It  is  a 
square  of  glass,  measuring  9  inches  by  7,  in  which  a 
circular  piece  is  leaded,  having  the  letters  "  W.  A.  S." 
for  William  and  Anne  Shakspeare,  tied  in  a  "  true 
lover's  knot,"  and  the  date,  16 15,  the  year  before 
the  Poet's  death,  beneath.  A  relative  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Court,  whose  ancestor  had  been  employed  to 
pull  down  New  Place,  had  saved  this  square  of  glass, 
but  attached  little  value  to  it.  He  gave  it  to  her, 
but  she  had  an  honest  dislike  to  the  many  pretenders 
to  relics,  and  never  showed  this  glass  unless  it  was 
expressly  requested  by  the  few  who  had  heard  of  it. 
She  told  her  story  simply,  made  no  comments,  and 
urged  no  belief.  The  letters  and  figures  are  certainly 
characteristic  :  they  are  painted  in  dark  brown  out- 
line, tinted  with  yellow  ;  the  border  is  also  yellow. 
The  lead  is  decayed,  and  the  glass  loose.  It  alto- 
gether appears  to  be  as  genuine  a  relic  as  any  that 
have  been  offered. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  43 


Shakespeare's  Tomb 

is  in  the  chancel  of  the  beautiful  church  of  Stratford, 
It  is  placed  against  a  blank  window,  on  the  left  of 
the  spectator,  as  he  faces  the  altar.  How  soon  it 
was  erected  after  the  Poet's  death,  we  cannot  confi- 
dently say;  but  that  it  was  before  1623  we  can 
ascertain  from  Leonard  Digges'  verses  prefixed  to 
the  first  edition  of  the  Poet's  works. 

A  half  length  figure  of  him  is  placed  in  a  niche; 
above  is  his  arms,  on  each  side  of  which  are  seated 
cherubs,  one  holding  an  inverted  torch,  with  a  skull 
beside  him,  the  other  a  spade  ;  on  the  apex  above  is 
another  skull.  Beneath  the  cushion  upon  which  the 
Poet  is  writing  is  inscribed  : 

JVDICIO  PYIJUM,  GENIO  SOCRATEM,  ARTE  MARONEM, 
TERRA  TEGIT   POPVLVS  M^RET,  OLYMPVS  IIABET. 

STAY  PASSENGER  ;  WHY  GOEST  THOV  BY  SO  FAST  ? 
READ,  IF  TIIOV  CANST,  WHOM  ENVIOVS  DEATH  HATH  PLAST 
WITHIN  THIS  MONVMENT  :  SHAKSPEARE,  WITH  WHOME 
QVICKE  NATVRE  DIDE  ;  WHOSE  NAME  DOTH  DECK  YS  TOMBE 
FAR  MORE  THEN  COST;  SITH  ALL  YT  HE  HATH  WRITT 
LEAVES  LIVING  ART  BVT  PAGE  TO  SERVE  HIS  WITT. 

Obiit.  Ano.  Doi.  IGIG. 
Aetatis  5.3,  Die,  23  Ap. 

The  half-length  effigy  of  Shakespeare  was  originally 
painted  after  nature.  The  eyes  were  a  light  hazel ;  the 
hair  and  beard  auburn.  The  dress  was  a  scarlet  doublet 
slashed  on  the  breast,  over  which  was  a  loose  black 
gown  without  sleeves.  The  upper  part  of  the  cush- 
ion was  crimson,  the  lower  green  ;  the  cords  which 


44  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

bound  it  and  the  tassels  were  gilt.  John  Ward, 
grandfather  of  the  Kembles,  caused  the  tomb  to  be 
repaired  and  the  original  colors  restored  in  1748, 
from  the  profits  of  the  performance  of  Othello.  In 
1793  Malone,  in  an  evil  hour,  gained  permission  to 
paint  it  white  ;  and  also  the  effigy  of  Shakspeare's 
friend,  John  Combe,  who  lies  beside  the  altar,  Mr. 
Knight  has  most  justly  stigmatized  this  act  as  one  of 
"unscrupulous  insolence."  Certainly  Malone  was 
at  much  pains  to  write  himself  down  an  ass. 

We  learn  from  Dugdale's  correspondence  that  the 
sculptor  of  this  monument  was  Gerard  Johnson.  His 
work  has  been  subjected  to  much  criticism,  particu- 
larly by  such  as  are  anxious  to  have  Shakespeare  not 
only  a  great  poet,  but  a  handsome  man.  This  bust 
does  not  please  them.  Mr.  Skottowe  declares  that 
it  "is  not  only  at  variance  with  the  tradition  of 
Shakespeare's  appearance  having  been  prepossessing, 
but  irreconcilable  with  the  belief  of  its  ever  having 
borne  a  striking  resemblance  to  any  human  being." 
A  most  sweeping  conclusion,  against  which  most 
modern  authors  and  artists  have  arrayed  them- 
selves. It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Martin  Droeshout's 
portrait,  prefixed  to  the  folio  of  1623,  and  beneath 
which  Ben  Jonson  has  affixed  verses  attesting  its 
accuracy,  and  which  all  his  "  fellows  "  who  aided 
in  this  edition,  as  well  as  others  who  knew  and 
loved  the  man,  could  also  confirm,  bears  a  decided 
similarity  to  this  bust.  Marshall  seems  to  have 
depended  on  the  same  authority  for  the  portrait  he 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


45 


engraved  for  the  edition  of  Shakspeare's  jDoems  in 
1640.  All  agree  in  one  striking  feature,  the  noble 
forehead  and  quiet,  unostentatious,  kindly  expression 
of  feature  which  must  have  belonged  to  "  the  gentle 
Shakespeare,"  These  early  artists  appear  to  have 
been  literal  copyists,  and  the  bust  at  Stratford  is  the 
best,  and  I  incline  to  think  the  only  authority  to  be 
depended  on.  It  was  probably  cut  from  a  cast 
taken  after  death ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  it 
stands  as  good  a  test  phrenologically  as  if  it  had  been 
adapted  to  the  Poet — a  singular  instance  of  its 
truth.  Another  corroborative  proof  exists  in  what 
has  been  objected  to  as  inaccurate,  the  length  of 
the  upper  lip  ;  but  Sir  Walter  Scott,  whose  intellect 
most  nearly  approached  the  Poet,  had  the  same 
feature  and  the   same  commanding   head. 

The  ghastly  white  paint  upon  the  bust,  the  high 
position  it  occupies  in  the  church,  and  the  bad  light 
that  there  falls  on  it,  hinders  the  due  appreciation 
of  its  merits.  The  features  are  regular,  nay,  hand- 
some and  intelligent  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  such  a 
head  depended  on  its  living  expression,  and  that 
then  it  must  have  been  eminently  gentle  and  pre- 
possessing. The  lower  part  of  the  face,  though  in- 
clined to  be  fleshy,  does  not  injure  the  features, 
which  are  all  delicately  formed,  and  the  side-view  of 
the  head  is  very  fine.  An  intense  study  of  this 
bust  enforces  the  belief,  that  all  the  manifold  pecu- 
liarities of  feature  so  characteristic  of  the  Poet,  and 
which  no  chance  could  have  originated,  and  no  the- 


46  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

ory  account  for,  must  have  resulted  from  its  being 
a  transcript  of  the  man  ;  one  that  has  received  the 
confirmation  of  Iiis  own  Hving  relatives  and  friends, 
the  best  and  only  portrait  to  be  now  relied  on. 

The  gravestones  of  the  Shakespeare  family  lie  in 
a  row  in  front  of  the  altar  rails,  upon  the  second 
step  leading  to  it ;  that  of  his  wife  is  immediately 
beneath  his  own.  It  is  a  fiat  stone,  the  surface,  which 
is  much  injured  by  time,  having  a  small  brass  plate 
let  in  it  with  this  inscription, 

HERE  LYETH  INTERRED  THE  BODY  OF  ANNE, 
WIFE  OF  WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE,  WHO  DEPART- 
ED THIS  LIFE  the  6  day  of  Aug. :  1623,  being  of  the  age 
of  67  years  ; 

Vbera  tu  mater,  tu  lac  vitamq  ;  dedisti, 
Vae  mihi  pro  tanto  munere  Saxa  dabo, 

Quam  mallem  amoveat  lapidem  bonus  Angel'ore' 
Exeat  Christi  corpus  imago  tua  ; 

Sed  nil  vota  valent,  venias  cito  Christe,  resurget, 
Clausa  licet  tumulo  mater,  et  astra  petet. 

Next  comes  that  placed  over  the  body  of  the  Poet. 
It  is  right,  here,  to  state  that  the  four  lines  upon  it 
have  been  generally  printed  with  an  absurd  mixture 
of  great  and  small  letters.  The  only  peculiarity  it 
possesses  over  ordinary  inscriptions  is  the  abbrevia- 
tion for  the  word  that.,  and  the  grouping  together 
of  some  of  the  letters  after  the  fashion  of  a  mono- 
gram. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  47 

GOOD  TREND  FOR  lESVS  SAKE  FORBEARE, 
TO  DIGG  THE  DVST  ENCLOASED  HEARE; 
BLESTE  BE  YE  MAN  Yt  SPARES  THES  STONES, 
AND  CVRST  BE  HE  Yt  MOVES  MY  BONES 

Other  instances  of  similar  usages  are  comjiion  in 
inscriptions  of  the  same  age.  There  is  a  traditionary 
story,  bearing  date  1693,  which  says  "his  wife  and 
daughters  did  earnestly  desire  to  be  laid  in  the  same 
grave  with  him,"  but  that  "  not  one  for  fear  of  the 
curse  above  said,  dare  touch  his  gravestone." 

"  The  inscription  on  the  tombstone  has  not  been 
without  its  effect, "  says  Mr.  Irving.  It  has  prevented 
the  removal  of  Shakespeare's  remains  from  the 
bosom  of  his  native  place  to  Westminster  Abbey, 
which  was  at  one  time  contemplated.  A  few  years 
since  also,  as  some  laborers  were  digging  to  make 
an  adjoining  vault,  the  earth  caved  in,  so  as  to  leave 
a  vacant  space  almost  like  an  arch,  through  which 
one  might  have  reached  into  his  grave.  No  one, 
however,  presumed  to  meddle  with  his  remains  so 
awfully  guarded  by  a  malediction  j  and  lest  any  of 
the  idle  or  curious  or  any  collector  of  relics,  should 
be  tempted  to  commit  depredations,  the  old  Sexton 
kept  watch  over  the  place  for  two  days,  until  the 
vault  was  finished  and  the  aperture  closed  again. 
He  told  me  that  he  had  made  bold  to  look  in  at  the 
hole,  but  could  see  neither  coffin  nor  bones;  nothing 
but  dust.  It  was  something,  I  thought,  to  have  seen 
the  dust  of  Shakespeare.  Next  to  this  grave  are 
those  of  his  wife,  his  favorite  daughter,  Mrs.  Hall, 


48  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

and  others  of  his  family.  On  a  tomb  close  by,  also, 
is  a  full-length  effigy  of  his  old  friend  John  Combe, 
of  usurious  memory,  on  whom  he  is  said  to  have  writ- 
ten a  ludicrous  epitaph.  There  are  other  monuments 
around,  but  the  mind  refuses  to  dwell  on  anything 
that  is  not  connected  with  Shakespeare.  This  idea 
pervades  the  place  ;  the  whole  pile  seems  but  as 
his  mausoleum.  The  feelings,  no  longer  checked 
and  thwarted  by  doubt,  here  indulge  in  perfect  con- 
fidence ;  other  traces  of  him  may  be  false  or  dubi- 
ous, but  here  is  palpable  evidence  and  absolute  cer- 
tainty. As  I  trod  the  sounding  pavement,  there  was 
something  intense  and  thrilling  in  the  idea,  that  in 
very  truth,  the  remains  of  Shakespeare  were  mould- 
ering beneath, my  feet.  It  was  a  long  time  before  I 
could  prevail  upon  myself  to  leave  the  place  ;  and  as 
I  passed  through  the  churchyard,  I  plucked  a  branch 
from  one  of  the  yew  trees,  the  only  relic  that  I  have 
brought  from  Stratford." 

Next  to  that  of  Shakespeare  lies  a  stone  commem- 
orating the  resting  place  of  Thomas  Nash,  who 
married  the  only  daughter  of  the  poet's  daughter, 
Susanna ;  this  lady  afterwards  married  Sir  John 
Barnard,  and  died  at  Abington,  near  Northampton, 
in  1670,  in  whom  the  direct  line  of  the  poet's  issue 
ceased.  Dr.  John  Hall,  her  father,  lies  next ;  and 
last  comes  Susanna,  his  wife.  The  whole  of 
the  rhyming  part  of  her  epitaph  had  been 
obliterated,  and  upon  the  place  was  cut  an  in- 
scription   to    the    memory  of    one  Richard   Watts. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


49 


This  in  its  turn  has  been  erased,  and  the  original 
inscription  restored  by  lowering  the  surface  of  the 
stone  and  re-cutting  the  letters.  The  tombs  of  Hall 
and  Nash  have  also  been  renovated  by  deepening 
the  letters  and  recutting  the  armorial  bearings,  which 
has  been  done  under  the  judicious  and  careful  super- 
intendence of  R.  B.  Wheler,  Esq.,  of  Stratford,  at  the 
sole  expense  of  the  Rev.  VV.  Harness,  whose  public- 
spirited  and  honorable  act  deserves  as  much  praise 
as  Malone's  miserable  meddling  does  reprobation. 

Washington  Irving  concludes  his  "Sketch;  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon,"  in  these  words  :  "  On  returning  to 
my  inn  I  could  not  but  reflect  on  the  singular  gift  of 
the  poet,  to  be  able  thus  to  spread  the  magic  of  his 
mind  over  the  very  face  of  nature,  to  give  to  things 
and  places  a  charm  and  character  not  their  own,  and 
to  turn  this  "  working-day  world  "  into  a  perfect  fairy- 
land. He  is  indeed  the  true  enchanter,  whose  spell 
operates,  not  upon  the  senses,  but  upon  the  imagina- 
tion and  the  heart.  Under  the  wizard  influence  of 
Shakespeare,  I  had  been  walking  all  day  in  a  com- 
plete delusion.  I  had  surveyed  the  landscape 
through  the  prism  of  poetry,  which  tinged  every 
object  with  the  hues  of  the  rainbow.  I  had  been 
surrounded  with  fancied  beings,  with  mere  airy 
nothings  conjured  up  by  poetic  power  ;  yet  which, 
to  me,  had  all  the  charm  of  reality.  I  had  heard 
Jaques  soliloquize  beneath  his  oak ;  had  beheld 
the  fair  Rosalind  and  her  companion  adventuring 
through  the  woodlands ;  and  above  all,  had  been 
4 


^o  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

once  more  present  in  spirit  with  fat  Jack  Falstaff 
and  his  contemporaries,  from  the  august  Justice 
Shallow  down  to  the  gentle  Master  Slender  and  the 
sweet  Anne  Page.  Ten  thousand  honors  and  bless- 
ings on  the  bard  who  has  thus  gilded  the  dull  reali- 
ties of  life  with  innocent  illusions  ;  who  has  spread 
exquisite  and  unbought  pleasures  in  my  checkered 
path,  and  beguiled  my  spirit  in  many  a  lonely  hour 
with  all  the  cordial  and  cheerful  sympathies  of  social 
hfe! 

As  I  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Avon  on  my 
return,  I  paused  to  contemplate  the  distant  church 
in  which  the  poet  lies  buried,  and  could  not  but 
exult  in  the  malediction  which  has  kept  his  ashes 
undisturbed  in  its  quiet  and  hallowed  vaults.  What 
honor  could  his  name  have  derived  from  being 
mingled  in  dusty  companionship  with  the  epitaphs 
and  escutcheons  and  venal  eulogiums  of  a  titled 
fnultitude  ?  What  would  a  crowded  corner  in  West- 
minster Abbey  have  been,  compared  with  this  rever- 
end pile,  which  seems  to  stand  in  beautiful  loneliness 
as  his  sole  mausoleum  !  The  solicitude  about  the 
grave  may  be  but  the  offspring  of  an  over-wrought 
sensibility  ;  but  human  nature  is  made  up  of  foibles 
and  prejudices,  and  its  best  and  tenderest  affections 
are  mingled  with  these  factitious  feelings.  He  who 
has  sought  renown  about  the  world,  and  has  reaped 
a  full  harvest  of  worldly  favor,  will  find,  after  all, 
that  there  is  no  love,  no  admiration,  no  applause,  so 
sweet  to  the  soul   as  that  which  springs  up  in  his 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


SI 


native  place.  It  is  there  that  he  seeks  to  be  gathered 
in  peace  and  honor  among  his  kindred  and  his 
early  friends.  And  when  the  weary  heart  and  fail- 
ing head  begin  to  warn  him  that  the  evening  of  life 
is  drawing  on,  he  turns  as  fondly  as  does  the  infant 
to  the  mother's  arms,  to  sink  to  sleep  in  the  bosom 
of  the  scene  of  his  childhood. 

How  would  it  have  cheered  the  spirit  of  the  youth- 
ful bard  when,  wandering  forth  in  disgrace  upon  a 
doubtful  world,  he  cast  back  a  heavy  look  upon  his 
paternal  home,  could  he  have  foreseen  that,  before 
many  years,  he  should  return  to  it  covered  with 
renown  ;  that  his  name  should  become  the  boast  and 
glory  of  his  native  place  ;  that  his  ashes  should  be 
religiously  guarded  as  its  most  precious  treasure  ; 
and  that  its  lessening  spire,  on  which  his  eyes  were 
fixed  in  tearful  contemplation,  should  one  day 
become  the  beacon,  towering  amidst  the  gentle  land- 
scape, to  guide  the  literary  pilgrim  of  every  nation 
to  his  tomb ! 


^  Cctter — Stratforb-on-^tjon. 

BY 

JOSEPH  F.  SABIN. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


Dear 


A    LETTER STRATFORD-UPON-AVON. 

Oxford,  May,  1869. 


I  have  just  got  back  from  Stratford-upon-Avon, 
and  well  aware  of  thine  admiration  of  the  great 
bard,  I  shall  deliberately  impose  upon  thee  some 
account  of  my  visit.  So  far  as  the  length  of  the  let- 
ter is  concerned  I  shall  surely  get  into  trouble,  for 
the  more  I  write,  the  more  must  deficiencies  be  ex- 
hibited, whilst  brevity  with  such  a  subject  and  with- 
out the  soul  of  wit,  must  be  as  refreshing  as  husks 
to  a  dry  throat.  Indeed,  did  I  set  out  to  write  all 
about  Stratford  thou  shouldst  herewith  get  a  greate 
booke ;  did  I  seek  to  treat  the  theme  with  ornate 
elegance,  or  to  assume  the  lofty  diction  appropriate 
to  the  subject,  the  commencement  would  be  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end.  As  there  are  so  many  reasons 
"  de  me  taire  "  it  is  well  to  remark  that  the  interest 
which  one's  friends  take  in  personal  memoranda  is 
so  strong  that  John  Smith  takes  more  entertainment 
in  hearing  his  brother's  adventures  in  Venice  than 
in  Lord  Byron's 

"  I  stood  in  Venice,  on  the  Bridge  of  Sighs 
A  Palace  and  a  Prison  on  each  hand." 


c6  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

On  the  way  to  Stratford  I  passed  through  War- 
wick, and  got  a  glimpse  of  the  grand  old  castle, 
whose  lofty  towers  and  battlements  sent  my  wits 
a  wandering  into  the  days  of  yore — of  bows  and  ar- 
rows, knights  and  fair  ladies,  tournaments,  chivalry 
and  enchantrhent.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  won- 
derful Guy  of  Warwick,  and,  again,  of  the  no  less 
powerful,  if  less  mythical,  Earl,  hight  the  king- 
maker ? 

Romantic  Kenilworth  is  not  far  off — but  alas  for 
the  cobweb  structure  whereon  fancy  commences  to 
build — the  whistle  of  the  locomotive  sends  it  to  the 
four  winds — the  books  which  are  before  me  are  not 
Don  Quixote's  library  with  the  Amadis  de  Gaul,  or 
Palmerin  of  England — the  red  and  yellow  covered 
books  containing  the  veritable  histories  of  the  great 
Guy  of  Warwick  and  of  the  Castle  of  Kenilworth  are 
parts  of  the  furniture  of  a  railway  station.  Cervantes 
killed  poor  Don  Quixote,  and  steam  is  stamping  out 
his  inheritance. 

Stratford-upon-Avon  is  not  far  from  Warwick,  and 
useful,  if  not  romantic,  steam,  soon  brought  me  to 
its  station,  and  for  the  first  time  I  saw  Shakespeare's 
natal  city,  nestled  iu  the  heart  of  merry  England, 
and  laved  by  the  "  flowery  "  Avon.  Spring-time  had 
put  on  a  new  coat  of  lovely  verdure,  and  the  land- 
scape was  gentle,  the  eye  was  filled  with  pleasure  as 
the  heart  was  gratified. 

The  graceful  spire  of  Holy  Trinity  is  the  most 
prominent  object  in  the  general  view  of  the  village, 
a  view  not  striking  but  quietly  agreeable. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


57 


I  soon  made  my  way  to  Henley  street,  to  the  house 
wherein  Shakespeare  first  saw  the  light.  The  build- 
ing at  present  is  '■'■restored.''''  It  had  undergone 
changes  and  alterations,  but  is  now  made  to  resemble 
its  state  as  in  Shakespearian  days.  The  house  is 
known,  technically,  as  half-timbered,  the  framework 
of  wood  is  not  covered  with  plaster. 

The  room  in  which  he  was  born  is  square,  and  of 
goodly  size,  the  ceiling  is  rather  low,  and  the  old 
beams,  black  with  time,  are  in  open  view.  The  great 
oaken  beam  forming  the  chimney  piece  attracted  my 
notice.  I  found  a  large  piece  had  been  cut  out  of 
the  corner,  and  remarking  it,  was  informed  that  some 
Americans  had  sawn  it  out — that  they  had  induced 
the  person  in  charge  of  the  premises  to  go  out  (to 
obtain  change),  and  that  in  her  absence  they  had  cut 
out  the  wood, — as  I  had  no  opportunity  of  cross- 
questioning  my  informant  I  do  not  altogether  accept 
the  story.  There  is  a  window  in  this  room  the  glass 
of  which  is  filled  with  names,  cut  by  diamonds. 
Among  them  I  found  Walter  Scott's.  I  hinted  that  I 
should  like  to  inscribe  my  name  among  them,  if  I 
could  find  room,  but  received  for  answer,  what  I  ex- 
pected,— that  it  was  not  allowed. 

Of  course  I  sat  upon  the  chair,  the  veritable  chair 
wherein  Shakespeare  took  his  ease.  How  much 
gratified  I  ought  to  have  been,  or  how  much  of  a 
foundation  for  the  inspiration  of  genius,  I  rested 
upon,  I  cannot  decide,  for  most  certainly  the  chair 
bad  been   re-bottomed  within   a  short  period,  even 


c8  THE  HOME  OE  SHAKESPEARE. 

since  Irving  had  sat  in  it.  Alas  !  what  are  we  with- 
out faith  ! — with  faith  and  new  bottoms,  that  chair 
may  be  as  immortal  as  Bottom  the  Weaver. 

The  house,  which  is  a  large  one,  is  now  appropri- 
ately used  as  a  museum,  and  there  are  many  items 
of  interest  to  visitors,  and  matters  which,  both  in  an 
historical  and  pecuniary  sense,  are  of  great  value. 
Old  papers,  old  odds  and  ends  of  all  sorts,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  as  they  originally 
appeared  in  little  quarto  volumes. 

A  catalogue  of  the  books  and  curiosities  of  the 
museum  would  occupy  many  pages.  The  titles  of  the 
first  editions  of  Shakespeare's  plays  are  somewhat 
quaint  in  orthography  :  "  The  most  excellent  Historie 
of  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  with  the  extreame  crueltie 
of  Shylocke  the  Jewe  towards  the  sayd  Merchant,  in 
cutting  a  just  pound  of  his  flesh,  and  the  obtaining 
of  Portia  by  the  choyse  of  three  chests.  1600.  The 
tragicall  Historie  of  Hamlet,  prince  of  Denmarke. 
Newly  imprinted  and  enlarged  to  almost  as  muche 
againe  as  it  was,  according  to  the  true  and  perfect 
coppie.     1604." 

Mr.  James  Lenox,  and  another  New  York  collec- 
tor of  my  acquaintance  have  between  them  some 
thirty  of  these  little  books,  some  of  which  cost  as 
much  as  ;^2oo,  and  one,  I  believe,  gave  birth  to 
enough  enthusiasm  to  coax  over  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  across  the  water.  The  genius  of  Biblioma- 
nia has  even  carried  to  the  West  early  editions  of 
this  man's  works — to  places  where  in  Shakespeare's 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


59 


time,  the  only  leaves  were  on  the  trees  and  they 
who  turned  them  the  whistling  winds. 

The  desk  which  is  exhibited  as  Shakespeare's  is 
in  a  very  sad  condition ;  it  has  been  cut,  scratched, 
sawn  and  notched  in  a  most  unmerciful  manner,  and 
although  scarcely  able  to  keep  body  and  soul  to- 
gether there  be  those  who  would  take  the  poor 
thing's  character  away  and  say  that  though  it  doubt- 
less came  from  the  grammar  school  where  Shake- 
speare got  his  little  Latin  and  less  Greek,  there  is  no 
proof  that  it  was  his  shining  morning  face  that  looked 
over  that  desk.  In  one  of  the  rooms,  written  in  pen- 
cil, is  a  poetical  tribute  to  Shakespeare,  by  one  of 
the  Bonapartes. 

The  Hunt  portrait  is  exhibited  in  this  building, 
and  so  arranged  that  when  shut  up  it  is  in  a  fire- 
proof safe. 

This  house  became  the  property  of  the  nation, 
through  public  subscription  raised  chiefly  by  Mr.  J. 
O.  Halliwell.  I  have  heard  it  related  that  some 
Americans  were  about  to  purchase  the  building  and 
that  Englishmen  had  to  bestir  themselves  to  prevent 
its  removal  to  our  side  of  the  water ;  but  it  would 
have  been  a  doubtful  glory  for  America,  and  no 
doubtful  shame  for  England,  to  permit  either  its  re- 
moval or  destruction.  Quile  a  pretty  garden  sur- 
rounds the  place,  and  the  very  same  flowers  whose 
names  and  images  decorate  his  lines,  bloom  in  the 
soil  his  youthful  feet  have  pressed.  The  house  is 
isolated  from  other  dwellinsrs  to  avoid  danger  of  fire. 


6o  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

The  house  is  accepted  as  the  birthplace  of  Shake- 
speare from  tradition  rather  than- evidence.  Of 
New  Place,  Anne  Hathaway's  cottage,  and  his  burial- 
place,  the  documentary  history  is  good  and  suffi- 
cient. 

John  Shakespeare  married  Mary  Arden — not  of 
the  forest  of  Arden,  but  of  the  village  of  Wilmcote. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  a  gentleman.  John  Shake- 
speare seems  to  have  been  a  dealer  in  wool  ;  he  was 
a  man  of  some  influence  and  ambition,  for  he  held 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  high  bailiff. 
William  Shakespeare  was  the  eldest  child,  born  on 
the  23d  of  April,  1564.  John  Shakespeare  had  sev- 
eral other  children,  and  it  is  said  that  the  increase 
of  his  family  occasioned  the  early  removal  of  William 
from  school. 

William  Shakespeare  married  Anne  Hathaway; 
he  was  nineteen  and  she  twenty-seven.  What  he  did 
for  subsistence  immediately  after  his  marriage  is  not 
definitely  ascertained.  He  soon  after  went  to  Lon- 
don, and  in  a  few  years  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  men  who,  with  him,  have  made  the  age  of  Eliza- 
beth glorious — Ben  Jonson,  Beaumont,  Fletcher, 
Donne,  Selden,  Myddleton.  The  Mermaid  Tavern, 
in  Friday  Street ;  the  Boar's  Head  in  Eastcheap, 
held  many  a  jovial  crew  of  revellers  ;  but  they  were 
thinkers  as  well  as  wits  and  jolly  good  fellows,  and 
though  some  of  them  saddened  and  shortened  their 
lives  by  too  much  drinking  and  feasting,  the  author 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  6 1 

of  Hamlet  and  creator  of  Falstaff,  could  not  have 
wasted  many  hours  in  mere  wine  bibbing.  The 
tavern-haunting  proclivities  of  illustrious  English- 
men in  the  good  old  days  must  not  be  mistaken  for 
the  mere  desires  of  thirst  and  time-killing.  The  par- 
lors of  the  taverns  were  the  trysting-places,  mayhap, 
of  men  who  discussed  philosophy  or  broke  friendly 
lances  in  combats  of  wit.  Didn't  the  worthy  Dr. 
Johnson  go  to  the  Mitre  Tavern,  and,  by  the  bye, 
take  so  much  wine  that  poor  Boswell  got  the  head- 
ache in  trying  to  keep  up  with  him.  Such  fellows 
as  these  were  glorious  revellers — not  the  revellers 
who  see  double  before  they  find  any  wit  at  all,  and 
then  so  attenuated  that  it  is  invisible  to  sober  men. 
Even  to  this  day,  in  England,  men  of  considerable 
refinement  and  culture  maybe  found  in  the  evenings 
in  cosy  back  parlors  of  taverns.  I  have  met  in  a 
back  parlor  of  a  quiet  tavern  men  who,  whilst  replen- 
ishing their  glasses  with  "  another  three-pen'orth,  my 
dear,"  discussed  literature,  art  and  politics  with 
refinement  and  acumen,  —  men  of  position  and 
knowledge  ;  so  that  it  is  not  just  to  judge  of  the 
roysterers  of  merry  England  by  the  habits  and  quali- 
ties of  a  bar-room  lounger  in  New  York. 

Leaving  the  old  house  and  sauntering  up  the  quiet 
streets  and  observing  the  inhabitants,  the  more  the 
wonder  grew  that  such  a  man  should  rise  from  such 
a  place ;  not  that  the  sweet  singer  of  the  meadows 
and  the  daisy  and  lily,  and  the  reader  of  the  books 


62  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

in  brooks  should  have  been  born  in  Warwickshire, 
but  that  the  grand  philosophic  genius  and  the  master 
painter  of  human  nature  should  lift  himself  from 
the  quiet  unexciting  life  of  a  rural  village.  Had  he 
been  reared  where  nature  is  sublime,  or  where  men 
and  passions  are  multitudinous,  our  ideas  of  the 
"  eternal  fitness  of  things,"  would  be  better  satisfied. 
But,  nevertheless,  so  it  is,  that  the  man  whose  thoughts 
are  wisdom  for  time,  whose  words  flow  in  majesty, 
shine  in  beauty,  or  twinkle  in  brightness — whose 
depth  is  beyond  the  wise,  and  whose  simplicity  holds 
the  multitude — this  man's  early  life  was  passed  in  a 
cleanly  little  market  town,  and  his  early  associations 
were  among  men  whose  life  was  hum-drum  ;  people 
well  content  with  living  and  being,  satisfied  to  keep 
their  incomes  apace  with  their  necessities,  walking 
below  philosophy  and  Hamlet,  and  above  passion  and 
excitement. 

The  half  dreaming,  half  puzzled  sensations  of  a 
man  who  finds  himself  actually  at  some  long  ven- 
erated shrine,  or  in  some  awful  presence,  are  some- 
what difiicult  of  expression,  more  especially  for 
one  who  has  not  learned  to  make  sight-seeing  a 
business,  or  whose  enthusiasm  has  not  suffered  the 
chill  of  incredulity  or  the  surfeit  of  quantity. 

The  little  town  numbers  but  thirty-five  hundred 
inhabitants.  The  river  Avon  takes  its  rise  at  Naseby, 
and  empties  into  the  Severn  at  Tewkesbury.  The 
principal  bridge  is  Clopton's.  There  are  a  few  little 
towns  in  the  neighborhood,  Bidford,  &c.,  as  men- 
tioned by  Shakespeare. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  63 

In  1597  Shakespeare  purchased  and  remodeled 
a  dwelling  called  the  "greate  house."  He  named  it 
*'  New  Place."  It  was  the  last  house  which  he 
inhabited.  The  zealous  pilgrim  to  Stratford-on-Avon 
will  not  see  the  building  ;  it  was  destroyed  through 
the  testy  selfishness  of  a  man  who  professed  god- 
liness. The  Rev.  Francis  Gastrell  became  the  last 
owner  of  the  house.  Shakespeare  willed  it  to  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Hall.  From  her  it  went  to  his  grand- 
daughter, and,  passing  through  other  hands,  was 
purchased  by  Gastrell. 

It  is  traditionally  known  of  Shakespeare  that  he 
planted  a  "  Mulberry  Tree."  Sir  Hugh  Clopton, 
who  owned  the  house  before  Gastrell,  took  pride 
in  exhibiting  it  to  visitors.  Gastrell  was  bothered 
by  men  who,  in  veneration  for  the  divinely-gifted 
poet,  and  with  the  human  curiosity  which  applies 
itself  to  the  observation  of  relics,  memorials,  etc., 
plied  the  owner  of  the  house  and  tree  with  ques- 
tions, to  such  an  extent  that  the  beatitude  of  the 
meek  might  have  been  earned  by  his  reverence, 
but  he  fell  behind  the  wise  man  who  is  greater 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city — his  wrath  boiled  over 
and  he  cut  down  the  mulberry  tree.  The  history 
of  the  cutting  down  of  this  tree  is  not  so  widely 
known  as  the  story  of  the  hatchet  in  the  hands  of 
the  immortal  George  Washington,  yet  there  is  no 
visitor  to  Stratford,  or  student  of  the  biography  of 
Shakespeare,  who  is  not  tempted  to  anathematize 
this  unworthy. 


64  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

The  churchman  was  not  entirely  relieved  by 
this  piece  of  wickedness,  for,  though  he  axed  the 
tree,  still  people  axed  him  questions ;  and  when 
he  left  the  place  for  a  temporary  residence  else- 
where, the  city  of  Stratford  taxed  the  property, 
because  he  left  it  in  possession  of  the  servants, 
practically  maintaining  a  household.  He  paid  the 
tax,  but  in  splenetic  vengeance  pulled  down  the 
house,  declaring  it  should  never  be  assessed  again. 

Gastrell  is  his  name  ;  ugly  it  is,  and  unpleasant  its 
memory.  We  read,  by  the  way,  that  English  church- 
men, have  in  old  days  exercised  functions  and  per- 
formed acts,  which  certainly  to  Americans  appear 
sti^angely  related  to  clerical  professions  and  duties  ; 
but  public  opinion,  in  its  nineteenth  century 
strength,  has  suppressed  the  more  daring  incon- 
sistencies and  incongruities  occasionally  permitted 
in  the  clerical  official  of  former  days.  Ameri- 
cans in  general  are  not  aware  that  the  church 
in  England  is  semi-political,  that  in  many  places 
clergymen  are  justices  of  the  peace,  and  in  some  rural 
districts  are  looked  upon  with  as  much  awe  as  rev- 
erence. The  primogeniture  laws  of  England  pre- 
serve large  estates,  but  unfortunately  leave  many 
persons  who  to  dig  they  cannot,  to  beg  they  are 
ashamed,  so,  under  the  influence  of  the  fortunate 
they  are  provided  with  positions  in  the  army,  the 
navy  and  the  church  ;  and  it  happens  that  in  many 
instances,  holy  offices  have  been  accepted  by  men 
of  tastes  and  feelings  not  at  all  in  harmony  with  the 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  65 

profession.  I  was  amused  the  other  evening  when 
at  Oxford  in  company  with  some  of  the  college  men^ 
they  sat  up  smoking  and  playing  cards  till  one  o'clock, 
Sunday  morning.  One  of  them,  who  was  preparing  for 
the  church,  said  he  thought  he  would  go  to  prayers 
in  the  morning,  as  he  wanted  to  give  thanks  for  the 
arrival  of  his  new  breeches  ;  — and  now  that  1  have 
perpetrated  one  irreverence  in  repetition,  I  will 
mention  apropos  of  the  English  law  of  descent,  a 
Yankee  reply  that  amused  me  considerably  the  first 
time  I  heard  it.  A  cockney  whose  pronunciation, 
though  not  nasal,  might  be  called  mouthy,  said  "  aw 
'ave  you  the  laws  of  primogenituah  in  youah  country? 
and  the  right  of  //entail  ?  "  Says  the  Yankee — "  don't 
b'lieve  we  know  what  that  is,  but  we've  got  plenty  of 
cocktail  and  a  very  good  thing  it  is  too."  I  have  got 
a  long  way  off  my  subject,  and  the  remotest  excuse 
for  alluding  to  cocktail,  is  the  fact  that  Shakespeare 
himself,  on  one  memorable  occasion,  got  something 
under  his  waist-band  which  was  more  than  his  legs 
could  carry. 

In  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  crabbed  clergyman 
it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  praise  of  the  good- 
fellows  of  the  cloth  whose  practice  of  their  professions 
has  honored  their  church  and  themselves. 

It  was  after  Shakespeare  had  amassed  some  wealth 
by  his  works  in  London  that  he  came  to  Stratford- 
on-Avon  and  bought  the  "  Create  House."  It  is  said 
that  the  Earl  of  Southampton  at  one  time  gave  him 
;^iooo  to  assist  him  in  a  purchase  he  was  a  mind  to — 
5 


66  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

perhaps  it  was  at  this  time,  though  the  amount  is 
probably  exaggerated,  as  at  that  period  ^looo  was  an 
enormous  sum  for  a  present  to  a  writer  of  plays. 

Unfortunately  no  graphic  record  of  New  Place 
exists  as  in  Shakespeare's  life.  Old  views  of  the  place 
represent  the  building  as  it  was  about  a  century 
later.  Mr.  Halliwell  has  written  a  big  book  about 
New  Place,  and  no  doubt  one  could  construct  from 
the  data  a  picture  possibly  as  near  the  reality  as 
some  of  the  pre-historic  monsters,  which  scientific  men 
have  built,  with  a  bone  or  two  for  foundation  and 
theory  for  superstructure.* 

New  Place  is,  or  was,  on  the  High  street,  at  the 
corner  opposite  the  chapel  of  the  guild  ; — next  door 
to  the  site  of  the  old  mansion,  is  a  dwelling-house, 
occupied  as  a  museum.  It  contains  many  articles  of 
interest  to  the  Shakespearian  pilgrim,  many  little 
things  formerly  belonging  to  New  Place.     The  small 

*  A  closer  investigation  into  the  history  of  New  Place  reveals 
the  fact,  that  the  house  which  Gastrell  pulled  down  had  been 
previously  rebuilt,  and  that  the  foundations  alone  were  Shake- 
sperian.  The  general'belief  is,  that  Gastrell  destroyed  the  an- 
cient dwelling ;  and  perhaps  he  is  visited  with  an  amount  of 
censure  unmerited,  in  some  respects  ;  and  perhaps  some  Bene- 
dict readers,  not  so  bold  as  Petruchio,  may  have  their  hearts 
softened  towards  him,  when  they  learn  of  fair  evidence 
that  the  act  was  instigated  by  Mrs.  Gastrell ;  and  still  there 
may  be  others  who,  like  Beadle  Bumble's  accusers,  will  say 
that  the  law  supposes  a  man's  wife  to  act  under  his  directions, 
— and  they  will  laugh  rather  than  accept  Bumble's  disrespectful 
reply,  that  "  If  the  law  supposes  that,  the  law  is  a  ass,  a  idiot." 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  67 

sum  of  three  pence  is  paid  by  each  visitor,  a  charge 
which  goes  to  keep  the  house  in  order. 

A  tall  and  very  stout  gentleman,  elderly,  bland  and 
kind,  took  an  interest  in  exhibiting  the  things  in 
charge,  and  after  we  had  looked  over  the  curiosities 
he  took  us  out  to  see  the  gardens.  Gastrell  had  the 
buildings  pulled  down,  but  he  did  not  pull  anything 
up,  so  the  foundation  walls  remain — and  the  well. 
Every  particle  of  soil  has  been  throughly  searched 
and  sifted  ;  the  well  has  been  explored,  and  of  the 
smallest  article  found  a  note  has  been  taken.  I  was 
seized  with  a  mild  sort  of  kleptomania,  and  had  made 
up  my  mind  to  pocket  a  small  piece  of  stone  or 
plaster  from  the  wall,  but !  talk  of  Argus,  the  man 
with  one  hundred  eyes  ! — this  man  was  all  eyes,  and 
yet  he  was  childlike  and  bland.  When  I  was  innocent 
of  any  intention  he  appeared  to  have  his  eyes  and 
mind  far  away,  but  when  I  concluded  there  would 
be  no  impropriety  in  stooping  down  to  pick  up  a 
pebble,  an  easy,  unconscious  looking  eye  was  glancing 
over  my  way.  That  man  would  be  worth  a  fortune  in 
a  counting  house — he  would  see  everything  and 
catch  everybody,  and  never  appear  to  be  looking.  I 
concluded  that  his  powers  of  perception  were  super- 
natural, and  considered  that  it  would  be  too  wicked 
and  irreverent  to  remove  even  a  bit  of  crumbling  wall. 
In  taking  a  walk  with  the  aforesaid  old  gentleman,  he 
waxed  eloquent,  though  I  should  have  as  little  ex- 
pected sentiment  from  him  as  from  a  well-condition- 
ed alderman  ;  evidently  he  felt  a  personal  pride  in 


68  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

his  duty  and  an  honor  in  serving  the  memory  of 
Shakespeare.  He  said  that  the  domain  under  his 
charge  was  the  best  of  all  ;  for,  did  he  not  tread  the 
same  earth  and  did  he  not  occupy  the  same  space 
wherein  Shakespeare  moved  and  had  his  being, — 
did  not  his  footsteps  lay  in  the  same  garden  where 
the  immortal  bard  walked  and  mused  ? 

The  old  gentleman  took  us  to  look  at  a  very 
ancient  Mulberry  Tree.  It  is  in  the  rear  garden. 
Its  genealogy  is  said  to  be  known ;  though  there  be 
some  who  say  that  it  had  no  immediate  relation 
to  the  old  one,  others  believe  that  it  is  a  scion  of 
the  tree  planted  by  Shakespeare. 

The  grounds  attached  to  New  Place  are  quite 
extensive,  and  in  proportion  to  the  dignity  of  the  old 
house.  The  garden  is  ornamented  by  the  piece  of 
sculpture  by  Banks,  formerly  in  Pall  Mall.  It  is  en- 
graved in  Boydell's  series.  It  represents  Shakespeare 
reclining  between  Poetry  and  Painting. 

A  network  of  iron  is  placed  on  the  ruined  foun- 
dations of  the  house,  and  everything  is  preserved 
with  such  care  that  doubtless  Gastrell,  if  permitted 
to  express  an  opinion,  would  say  nineteenth  century 
folk  had  gone  mad. 

The  church  of  Holy  Trinity  meets  the  eye,  a 
charming  object,  in  proportion  elegant,  in  the  archi- 
tecture of  its  parts,  so  varied  as  to  tell  of  long  life 
and  a  struggle  through  centuries,  the  relentless  tooth 
of  time  has  been  suffered  to  decorate  and  soften, 
not  to    annihilate.     The  spire   that  surmounts  the 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


69 


pile  is  lofty  and  well  proportioned,  an  avenue  of 
trees  with  branches  arched  leads  to  the  western 
entrance.  This  green  branch-covered  pathway,  the 
tall  elms  which  rise  at  the  boundary,  and  the  Avon 
at  the  rear  margin,  are  no  feeble  adjuncts  to  the 
builded  beauty  of  the  church. 

Entering  the  holy  edifice  I  removed  my  hat  and 
bowed  my  head  with  a  reverence  as  well  for  the 
greatest  created  as  the  Creator — but  I  could' scarcely 
realize  that  my  feet  were  making  echoes  in  the 
temple  that  held  the  dust  of  Shakespeare,  that  here 
in  religious  response  was  raised  the  mortal  voice 
which,  now  immortal,  is  confined  only  by  the  girdle 
of  ihe  earth. 

The  first  objects  apparent  within  the  dim  religious 
light  were  tombs  and  monuments,  some  interesting 
for  the  names  as  associated  with  Shakespeare's 
biography,  and  some  by  no  means  insignificant  as 
works  of  sculpture.  How  much  more  worthy  of 
praise  the  ancient  mode  of  perpetuating  the  memory 
of  the  dead  by  sculptured  form,  than  the  fashion  to 
lavish  modern  wealth  on  stones  and  carving,  hetero- 
geneous and  meaningless  ! 

The  ancient  font  from  which  Shakespeare  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  baptized,  stands  in  the  south 
end  of  the  transept ;  the  pedestal  is  gone  and  the 
bowl  is  damaged.  Passing  through  into  the  chancel 
a  few  steps  brought  me  to  the  resting-place  of  the 
mortal  part  of  him  whom  the  world  delighteth  to  call 
immortal.     The  flooring  is  raised  a  step  in  front  of 


70 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


the  chancel  railing,  and  one  of  the  stones  forming 
the  pavement,  is  at  the  same  time  the  tablet  where- 
on are  graven  the  words  familiar  even  to  the  igno- 
rant. 

GOOD  FREND  FOR  lESVS  SAKE  FORBEARE, 
TO  DIGG  THE  DVST  ENCLOASED  HEARE : 

E  T 

BLEST  BE  Y  MAN  Y  SPARES  TIIES  STONES, 
AND  CVRST  BE  HE  Y  MOVES  MY  BONES. 

On  one  side  of  this  slab  is  the  stone  commemo- 
rating his  wife,  who  died  some  years  after  him  ;  on 
theother  side  are  slabs  covering  the  remains  of  other 
relatives,  including  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  Hall,  and  his 
two  daughters  and  grand-daughter. 

The  monument  to  Shakespeare  is  placed  in  the 
wall,  several  feet  above  the  stone.  The  bust  of 
Shakespeare  is  under  an  arch  which  is  supported  by 
columns  of  marble,  decorated  above  by  figures  of 
cherubs.  The  bust,  life-size,  represents  the  poet 
in  the  attitude  of  inspiration,  a  cushion  before  him, 
and  a  pen  in  his  hand.  The  bust  was  originally 
colored  to  resemble  life,  comformably  with  the  taste 
of  the  times — eyes,  light  hazel,  hair  and  beard  auburn 
— scarlet  doublet,  under  a  loose  black  gown,  without 
sleeves.  The  cushion  was  crimson  on  the  top  and 
green  underneath.  Meddlesome  Malone  painted  it 
white  ;  at  present  it  is  restored  to  the  original  colors. 

The  inscription  upon  the  stone  is  probably  the 
work  of  a  friend  of  Shakespeare's,  or  written  by  some 
one  who  had  known  the  poet's  wishes.     There  are 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  7 1 

passages  in  Hamlet  and  Romeo  and  Juliet,  which, 
doubtless,  express  the  poet's  own  feelings  in  regard 
to  the  removal  of  the  dead.  Were  it  not  for  the 
epitaph,  doggerel  as  it  may  be,  Shakespeare's  dust 
would  have  been  removed  to  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  desire  to  rest  near  his  home  is  not  only  a  mark 
of  his  affection  for  his  birth-place,  but  the  fulfilment 
of  it  must  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  posterity. 
But  a  few  days  ago  I  was  in  the  vaults  of  the  Pan- 
theon— the  temple  built  for  the  honor  of  great  French- 
men. All  was  cold,  gloomy,  sealed  up  from  light 
and  warmth.  From  out  of  a  stone  coffin  came  the 
ruddy  hand  of  Rousseau,  inspiring  a  vulgar  terror  as 
it  was  unexpectedly  lit  up  by  the  flambeau  of  the 
guide.  Were  Shakespeare's  bones  in  Westminster, 
Garrick  could  not  have  sung  : 

Flow  on,  silver  Avon  !  in  song  ever  flow, 
Be  the  swans  on  thy  bosom  still  whiter  than  snow, 
Ever  full  be  thy  stream,  like  his  fame  may  it  spread. 
And  the  turf  ever  hallow'd  which  pillow'd  his  head. 

Nor  could  I  have  enjoyed  my  visit  half  so  much. 
"  Poet's  Corner "  is  rich  enough  to  SjDare  him,  and 
his  tomb  is  a  Mecca  in  itself. 

Upon  the  monument  are  two  inscriptions,  one  in 
English,  the  other  Latin.  They  attest  the  fact  that 
Shakespeare  was  held  in  high  contemporary  estima- 
tion. 

Not  far  from  Shakespeare  lies  John  Combe.  It  is 
said  of  this  man  that  he  asked  Shakespeare  to  write 
his  epitaph — the  following  was  the  result : 


72  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

"  Ten  in  the  hundred  lies  here  ingraved, 

"  'Tis  a  hundred  to  ten  his  soul  is  not  sav'd ; 

"  If  any  man  ask,  who  lies  in  this  tomb  ? 

"  Oh !  oh  !  quoth  the  devil,'  tis  my  John-a-combe." 

It  is  not  accepted  as  Shakespeare's,  because  he  was 
the  gentle  Shakespeare,  and  known  to  bear  friendly 
relations  with  Combe,  but  it  does  not  seem  altogether 
improbable  that  Shakespeare  should  have  said  a 
sharp  thing  in  a  joke,  for  the  whole  affair  was  of  the 
nature  of  a  supposition.  Possibly  the  old  gentleman 
was  fishing  for  compliments,  and  perhaps  he  had 
been  a  little  overreaching  in  money  transactions  with 
some  of  the  Shakespeare  family. 

Much  interest  has  been  manifested  by  antiquaries  as 
to  which  is  the  most  authentic  portrait  of  Shake- 
speare. The  bust  was  erected  a  short  time  after  the 
poet's  death  ;  and  there  is  a  resemblance  in  the  en- 
graved portrait  annexed  to  the  first  folio  edition — 
and  Ben  Jonson  has  written  beneath  this  portrait 
that 

This  figure,  that  thou  here  seest  put, 

It  was  for  gentle  Shakespeare  cut  ; 

"Wherein  the  graver  had  a  strife 

With  nature,  to  out-doo  the  life. 

O  !  could  he  but  have  drawne  his  wit 

As  well  in  brass  as  he  hath  hit 

His  Face,  the  Print  would  then  surpasse 

All  that  was  ever  writ  in  brass. 

But  since  he  cannot,  reader,  looke 

Not  on  his  picture,  but  his  booke. 

B.J. 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  j^ 

It  is  the  same  Ben  Jonson  who  said,  "  I  love  the 
man  and  do  honour  his  memory  on  this  side  idolatry 
as  much  as  any." 

Yet  there  be  writers  who  have  tortured  them- 
selves, if  not  many  readers,  to  prove  that  Shakespeare 
wasn't  Shakespeare — he  was  perhaps  Bacon  or  some- 
body else. 

The  church  is  not  all  of  one  period  ;  its  history 
can  be  traced  to  William  the  Conqueror's  time,  if  not 
earlier.  The  town  itself  commences  its  history  in 
the  6th  or  7th  century.  Of  the  building,  as  it  now 
stands,  the  tower  and  nave  are  the  oldest — the  trai> 
sept  was  erected  in  the  15th  century  by  Hugh  Clop- 
ton,  and  the  most  beautiful  part  of  it,  the  chancel, 
was  erected  by  Dr.  Balshall,  in  the  15th  century.  In 
1700  the  roof  was  altered  and  the  old  glass  remain- 
ing was  collected  and  put  in  the  centre  of  the  east 
window.  The  steeple  is  modern.  Previous  to  1764 
the  steeple  was  of  wood,  but  in  that  year  the  people 
of  Stratford  built  the  present  one  of  Warwickshire 
stone.  Total  height,  163  feet ;  total  length  of 
church,  176  feet. 

The  charnel  house — a  look  into  which  is  assigned 
as  the  origin  of  Shakespeare's  dislike  to  a  removal,  as 
exhibited  in  his  epitaph — was  not  used  after  the  Re- 
formation, and  in  1800  it  was  pulled  down.  Dr. 
Balshall  built  his  chancel  in  the  place  of  an  older  one. 
Around  the  church  is  a  graveyard,  well  tenanted 
■ — bounded  on  the  East  by  the  Avon — that  it  is  the 
gentle  Avon  and  flows  softly  is  as  true  as  true  poetical 


74  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

description.  In  the  land  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Hudson  it  would  scarce  be  called  a  river.  A  stone's 
throw  will  traverse  it. 

The  gentle  Shakespeare,  happy  in  that  which  was 
in  unison  with  his  nature,  must  have  loved  this 
stream.  To  me  it  was  inexpressibly  charming  in 
contemplation.  I  enjoyed  dividing  not  associa- 
tion from  character.  The  river,  with  the  image  of 
heaven  on  its  bosom,  flowed  by  so  gently  that  it 
seemed  thoughtful  of  the  sleepers  by  us  side — the 
murmur  of  insects,  the  occasional  note  of  a  bird  and 
the  rustling  of  the  leaves  were  sounds  of  life  and 
motion,  but  not  inharmonious. 

"Thou  soft-flowing  Avon — by  thy  silver  stream, 

Of  things  more  than  mortal,  sweet  Shakespeare  would  dream ; 

The  fairies  by  moonlight  dance  round  his  green  bed, 

For  hallowed  the  turf  is  which  pillow'd  his  head." 

How  delightful  is  the  walk  from  Holy  Trinity  to 
Shottery  !  It  is  a  refreshing  change  from  the  solemn 
temple  where  sentiments  have  gathered  upon  the 
mind  reflecting  and  subdued,  to  the  sweet  and  ten- 
der green  of  the  fields,  England's  hedgerows,  the 
twitter  of  the  birds  and  gaiety  of  sunshine.  I  confess 
that  I  danced  over  the  ground  light-headed  as  light- 
heeled,  and  took  a  bound  over  the  first  fence  that 
came  in  the  way.  How  pretty  the  church  looked,  its 
rising  spire  shepherding  the  dwellings  !  That  after- 
noon the  air  was  delightful,  quickening,  exhilarating. 

Footsteps  !     pick   yourselves   up  !     For  hath  not 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 


75 


Shakespeare,  when  near  thine  own  age,  skipped 
along  the  same  path,  made  sweet  ballads  to  a  dam- 
osel's  eyebrow  ; — she  dwelt  over  the  fields — the  scent 
of  the  new-mown  hay  is  sweet ;  daisies  pied  and 
violets  blue  do  paint  the  meadows  with  delight. 
Shine,brighteyes,  beat  youthful  pulse; — see  everything 
joyous,  the  earth  happy,  and  the  heavens  propitious, 
for  two  stars  there  be  will  glow  more  brightly  at  thy 
coming : — ^just  beyond  the  turning  of  a  green  lane, 
on  a  bank  side,  with  a  flowery  garden  in  front  neath 
shady  trees,  is  a  thatched  house  wherein  sweet  Anne 
dwells.  Let  the  soft  moon  tell  of  the  meeting  and 
the  breeze  that  kisses  the  roses  recount  the  sweet 
sorrows  of  parting.  My  inky  pen  does  not  flow 
with  the  figures  to  write  of  the  love  of  the  author  of 
Romeo  and  Juliet. 

Anne  Hathaway  was  the  daughter  of  a  yeoman — 
well-to-do.  When  Shakespeare  married  her  she  was 
eight  years  his  senior.  That  Shakespeare  should  have 
won  a  woman  so  much  older  than  himself  is  by  no 
means  remarkable,  so  far  as  regards  the  overthrow  of 
the  usual  prejudice  which  women  have  for  o'er-youthful 
suitors.  What  woman  could  resist  the  wooing  of  the 
man,  comely  in  person,  sweet  in  demeanor,  who  could 
talk  love  like  Romeo,  and  knew  the  human  heart 
like  Shakespeare  .''  Doubtless  the  young  woman 
was  of  exceeding  beauty  and  attractiveness,  and  pos- 
sessed qualities  which  in  the  young  poet's  eyes  were 
more  attractive  than  youth. 
.    From  the  fact  of  Shakespeare's  return  to  his  home. 


•jS  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

the  purchase  of  a  "greate  house"  and  the  remodel- 
ling it  for  the  comfort  of  his  family,  it  is  not  too, 
much  to  infer  that  his  married  life  was  happy. 

I  made  a  sketch  of  the  house,  but  unfprtunately 
time  moved  so  fast  that  a  rough  outline  was  all  that 
I  could  pencil.  It  needs  no  flight  of  the  imagina- 
tion or  rose-tinted  crayon  to  make  the  Shottery  cot- 
tage a  charming  subject  for  the  artist, — -its  length 
broken  up  with  windows  and  open  timbers,  pictur- 
esque shadows  in  the  doorways  and  under  the  eaves, 
all  capped  by  the  thatched  roof,  that  cottage  cover- 
ing which  has  always  poetry  in  its  name.  Shading 
the  whole  are  some  beautiful  trees,  which  kindly 
weave  their  branches  over  the  straight  line  of  the 
roof.  The  foreground  is  a  flowery  garden,  bound 
by  a  leafy  fence. 

The  old  lady  in  charge,  was  in  keeping  as  well,  her 
wrinkles  in  sympathy  with  the  time-furrowed  boards 
— her  child-like  manners  and  unaffected  bearing  quite 
in  unison  with  the  rustic  sunplicity  of  the  dwellirtg. 
What  a  false  note  would  have  been  struck  in  the 
charming  chord  of  romance,  rusticity  and  hero-worship 
had  there  been  placed  in  charge  a  quick  pert  young 
man  like  an  American  ticket-agent,  or  one  of  those 
snuffling,  fish-blooded  individuals  whose  vocation  as 
showmen  seems  to  be  to  make  one  feel  sorrowful. 
They  may  be  fat, — it  is  from  the  want  of  emotion — not 
from  the  abundance  of  laughter.  I  remember  one 
fellow  who  showed  me  about  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
Mark  Tapley  would  have  felt  it  a  credit  to  be  jolly  in 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  77 

his  presence.  Such  fellows  should  be  paid  more  to 
at  least  simulate  some  interest  in  that  which  they 
talk,  about.  Perhaps  it  would  have  the  same  effect  of 
which  Steele's  undertaker  complained  —  he  scolded 
one  of  his  mutes  for  not  putting  on  the  proper  amount 
of  sorrow,  although  he  had  increased  his  wages. 
"  Why,  you  rascal !  "  says  he,  "  the  more  i  pay  you 
the  gladder  you  look." 

The  cottage  was  really  a  triple  house.  The 
relics  which  are  exhibited,  of  the  Shakespearian 
period,  are  not  numerous,  and  as  to  their  authen- 
ticity, doubts  are  strong.  The  large  high  post  bed- 
stead is  certainly  very  ancient ;  a  settle  is  at  the 
door  ;  it  is  old  and  weather-beaten  enough  to  pass 
for  the  original  courting  stool  with  those  who  are 
not  specially  inquisitive  as  to  its  history. 

Tlie  interior  of  the  house  is  interesting,  and  the 
kitchen  suggestive  of  some  of  the  old  Dutch  masters. 

The  visitors'  register  was  dotted  with  the  names 
of  Americans. 

On  the  road  from  Shottery  to  Stratford  I  was 
curtseyed  to  in  the  genuine  old  fashion,  by  the  chil- 
dren on  the  way,  a  mode  of  salutation  which  the  old 
lady  in  charge  of  the  place,  appeared  to  use  habit- 
ually to  visitors. 

I  came  upon  a  shop  wherein  I  observed  many 
curiosities,  old  pieces  of  furniture,  great  tall  clocks, 
constructed  in  the  days  when  a  clock  was  an  intri- 
cate mechanical  contrivance,  and  when  time  was  not 
reduced  to  so  small  a  quantity  of  money  as  $1.00  for 


yg  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

a  New  England  ticker.  The  owner  was  a  Mr.  Mar- 
shall. I  wonder  if  related  to  the  engraver  of  Shake- 
speare's portrait  as  affixed  to  his  poems  ?  He  had 
several  odds  and  ends,  among  them  a  goblet  carved 
of  mulberry  wood,  and  another,  a  little  oaken  box. 
The  goblet  was  rather  elaborately  cut,  and  certainly 
from  a  tree  of  great  age.  He  declared  with  all  hon- 
orable dignity  that  the  wood  was  from  the  present 
aged  tree,  from  which  a  limb  was  cut  to  lessen  its 
weight.  And  the  wooden  box  was  made  from  the 
oak  coming  from  the  house  in  Henley  street,  in  its 
repair  and  reconstruction.  He  did  not  make  so 
great  an  oath  as  did  one  Sharp,  of  the  former  tree, 
but  produced  certificates,  receipts  for  the  wood,  &c. 
I  sighed  for  the  proneness  to  unbelief  which  exists  in 
the  minds  of  men,  who,  shrewd  fellows,  do  not  often 
part  with  their  money  in  exchange  for  relics — so 
I  bought  the  goblet  for  about  its  value  as  a  piece 
of  carving — and  so  far  as  a  relic  goes  shall  feel 
satisfied  in  the  future  with  the  fact  of  its  reminding 
me  of  Stratford-on-Avon.  As  for  the  oaken  box  I 
shall  give  that  to  an  eccentric  friend  of  mine  who 
lives  in  New  York  ;  he  is  a  nice  old  fellow  who  rever- 
ences the  immortal  bard,  and  treasures  up  old  for- 
gotten lore,  and  loves  a  book  which  he  thinks  Shake- 
speare may  have  read.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he 
keeps  many  rare  and  choice  volumes  in  barrels  ;  it  is 
by  no  means  a  difficult  flight  of  the  imagination  to  see 
him  groping  about  among  them,  holding  a  candle  and 
looking  for  all  the  world  like  a  Guy  Fawkes  with  the 
powder-barrels.      The  story  is  a  somewhat  strange 


THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  yg 

one,  and  I  have  been  inclined  to  doubt  that  he 
really  had  any  rarities  hidden  away  in  this  manner 
— but  I  have  put  the  question  to  him  straight  and 
he  has  never  denied  it  outright,  and  a  request  for 
a  book  which  I  knew  he  possessed,  has  been  so 
frequently  met  with  the  statement  that  he  could  not 
get  at  it,  that  the  suspicion  of  his  eccentricity  is 
confirmed.  I  mean  to  give  him  this  box,  and  perhaps, 
as  he  loves  everything  relating  to  the  immortal  bard, 
he  will  tell  me  what  he  has  hidden  away. 

I  took  dinner  at  a  tavern,  the  name  of  which  I 
forget,  but  it  was  interesting  and  notable  for  the 
fact  that  the  rooms  instead  of  being  numbered,  were 
named  after  the  plays  of  Shakespeare, — Macbeth, 
Hamlet,  &c.  It  would  have  been  pleasant  to  have 
slept  a  night  in  one  of  these  rooms.  Possibly  a  night- 
cap of  sack  and  sugar,  and  a  sea-coal  fire  might  set 
the  chairs,  tables  and  bed-posts  into  transformations. 
Such  freaks  have  been  most  delightfully  recounted 
by  one  Washington  Irving  ;  and  such  bright,  jolly, 
and  captivating  ghosts  as  came  to  his  bed-side,  or 
in  his  drowsy  arm  chairs,  seldom  visit  ordinary  mor- 
tals. I  regret  that  I  did  not  inquire  if  they  supplied 
Falstaff's  room  with  sack  and  sugar,  and  was  even 
neglectful  enough  to  ask  if  they  kept  the  article  in 
the  house. 

It  was  shortly  after  Shakespeare's  marriage  that 
he  got  into  the  deer-stealing  scrape.  Biographers 
and  commentators  distress  themselves  unnecessarily 
to  prove  that  Shakespeare  did  not  steal  deer.  I 
think   it  almost  certain  that  he   did,  and  from  the 


8o  THE  HOME  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

American  stand-point,  it  seems  not  a  particularly 
discreditable  transaction — for  a  youth  of  spirit  to 
drive  a  shaft  through  the  side  of  a  running  deer — 
nor  is  it  worth  while  attempting  to  prove  him  a  man 
altogether  perfect.  He  got  drunk  once,  and  waking 
up  gave  a  short  descriptive  sketch  of  the  neighbor- 
ing towns  : 

Piping  Pebworth,  dancing  Marston, 
Haunted  Hilbro',  hungry  Grafton, 
Dudging  Exhall,  papist  Wixford, 
Beggarly  Broom,  and  drunken  Bidford. 

Perhaps  if  I  had  taken  enough  of  sack  and  sugar 
to  have  made  as  effective  a  sketch  of  Stratford,  I 
should  have  done  better  than  to  write  this  long  letter. 

Is  it  a  cause  for  regret  that  the  life  of  Shake- 
speare is  clouded  in  obscurity  ?  We  have  the  truths 
of  his  existence,  birth,  marriage  and  death,  so  un- 
disputed, that  he  is  not  a  myth  ;  then  the  mystery 
and  doubt  is  but  a  stimulus  to  the  curious  ;  the  man 
is  greater  for  the  mist,  as  the  genii  for  the  vapor 
and  cloud.  A  Pepys-like  diary  by  Shakespeare 
would  but  make  him  more  of  the  earth,  earthy. 
We  have  now  but  to  read  his  works,  and  hear  that 
he  was  the  gentle  Shakespeare  ;  and  we  would  not 
too  eagerly  barter  imagination  for  knowledge — how 
seldom  is  the  drawing  of  one  so  beautiful  as  the 
painting  of  the  other  ! 

Terra  tegit,  populus  moeref,  Olympus  habet. 
Yours,  etc., 

Joseph  F.  Sa'ein. 


The  following  two  letters  are  prefixed  to  the  first 
editions  of  "Venus  and  Adonis,"  and  "The  rape 
OF  LucRECE,"  and  comprise  the  complete  prose 
WORKS  OF  William  Shakespeare. 


TO   THE 
KIGHT     HONOURABLE    HENRY     WRIOTHESLEY, 

EARL  OF  SOUTHAMPTON    AND    BARON   OF    TICHFIBLD. 

Bight  Honourabi.k, 

I  know  not  how  I  shall  offend  in  dedicating  my 
unpolished  lines  to  your  lordship,  nor  how  the 
world  will  censure  me  for  choosing  so  strong  a  prop 
to  support  so  weak  a  burden  :  only,  if  your  honour 
seem  but  pleased,  I  account  myself  highly  praised 
and  vow  to  take  advantage  of  al!  idle  hours,  till  I 
have  honoured  you  wilh  some  graver  labor.  But  if 
the  first  heir  of  my  invention  prove  deformed,  I  shall 
be  sorry  it  had  so  noble  a  godfather,  and  never  after 
ear  not  are  so  barren  a  land,  for  fear  it  yield  me  still  so 
barren  a  harvest.  I  leave  it  to  your  honourable  sur- 
vey, and  your  iionour  to  your  heart's  content  ;  which  I 
wish  may  always  answer  your  own  wish  and  the 
world's  liopeful  expectation. 

Your  honour's  in  all  duty. 

William    Shakespkare. 


TO   THE 
RIGHT     HONOURABLE     HENRY    WRIOTHESLEY, 

EARL   OF   SOUTHAMPTON   AND    BARON    OF   TICHFIELD. 

The  love  I  dedicate  to  your  lordship  is  without 
end  ;  whereof  this  pamphlet,  without  beginning, 
is  but  a  superfluous  moiety.  The  warrant  I  have  of 
your  honourable  disposition,  not  the  worth  of  my  un- 
tutored lines,  makes  it  assured  of  acceptance.  What 
J  have  done  is  yours ;  what  I  have  to  do  is  yours  ; 
being  part  in  all  1  have,  devoted  yours.  Were  my 
worth  greater,  my  duty  would  show  greater.  Mean- 
time, as  it  is,  it  is  bound  to  your  lordship,  to  whom 
I  wish  long  life  still  lengthened  with  all  happiness. 
Your  lordship's  in  all  duty, 

William  Shakespeare. 


LAKE   CHAMPLAIN    PRESS, 
RCUSES    POINT,     N.V. 


New  Yokk,  ISVZ. 

Wo  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  loUowing  partial  list  of 
editions  of  Shakespeare's  Works  and  books  about  Shakesjjeare, 
now  in  stock,  and  for  sale  at  the  })rices  affixed.  They  are  all  as 
described,  and  in  the  best  condition. 

Your  orders  will  receive  immediate  attention. 

J.  SABIN  &  SONS, 

84  Nassau  Street. 


Shakespeare  (W.) — Boydell's  large  set  of  illustrations  to,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  of  the  paintings  of  the  most  cele- 
brated artists  of  the  day  ;  engraved  by  Sharpe,  Hall, 
Bartolozzi,  Schiavonetti,  Stowe,  Ogborne,  Middiman,  and 
others.  The  whole  being  open  letter  ]>roofs.  This  S|)lendid 
work  is  a  noble  monument  to  the  genius  of  Shakespeare, 
formed  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  most  renoAvned  British 
artists,  aided  and  directed  also  by  the  munificence  of 
Alderman  Boydell.  Among  the  paintings  engraved  in  this 
super!)  series  of  illustrations  are  the  works  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  Romney,  Opie  Smirke,  Northcote,  Stothard, 
Fuseli,  Hamilton,  Trisham,  Westall,  and  other  first-rate 
British  artists.  2  vols.,  royal  folio,  half  crimson,  crushed 
Levant  mor.,  super  extra,  gilt  tops,  uncut.  London,  1803. 
A  superb  set,  including  the  Seven  Ages,  all  splendid  proofs 
befoi'e  the  verses.     Very  scarce  in  this  State.     |;175. 

Another  copy,,/?ne  Impressions,  including  Seven  Ages.    Fine 

copy.  2  vols.,  folio,  half  levant  mor., extra.  Lond.,  1803.  |>125. 

The    same,  hm/e  paper  copy.     2   vols.,  imperial   folio,  half 

crimson,  crushed  Levant  mor.,  extra.  Very  scarce  in  this 
size.       Lond.,  1803.      ^22b. 

Works.     Knight's  Pictorial  Edition.     8  vols.,  8vo.,  morocco 

gilt.     Lond.,  n.  d.    Fine  copy  of  the  first  edition,  now  scarce. 


-The  same,  tree  calf,  extra  gilt  tops,  uncut,  $80. 

-The  same,  in  the  original  parts,  $70. 

-Works.     Text  revised  by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Dyce.  9  vols. 

Portrait.     Half  mor.,  extra  gilt  tops,  uncut.     Lond.,  1877, 

145. 

-The  same,  tree  calf,  elegant,  contents  lettered.     1866.     •1'!45. 
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11 


Shakespeare's  Comedies,  Histories,  Tragedies  and  Poems.  Ed- 
ited, Avitli  a  life,  l)y  J.  Payne  Collier.  Fine  portrait  from 
the  folio.  8  vols.,  8vo.,  half  mor.,  extra  gilt  tops,  uncut. 
Lond.,  1858.     |30. 

The  same,  tree  calf,  elegant,  *40. 

. Plays  and  Poems.     Valpy's  Cabinet  Pictorial  Edition,  with 

Life,  Glossarial  Notes,  &c.,  and  IVO  plates^  engraved  on 
steel  after  designs  of  the  most  distingtiished  British 
artists.  15  vols.,  post  8vo.,  half  mor.,  extra,  contents  let- 
tered. Lond.,  1843.  132.50. 
"This  is  at  once  the  most  delightful  aud  elegant  form  iu  which  Shake- 
speare has  ever  appeared."— i/o/mHg'  Pod. 

Dramatic  Works.     Bell's  excellent    edition.      Large   pajjer, 

with  the  various  Prefaces,  Dissertations  and  Vaiiorum 
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8vo.,  newly  and  handsomely  bound  in  half  mor.,  gilt  edges, 
contents  lettered,  fine  copy.     1788.     170. 

The  Plays  of.     Pickering's   Diamond   Edition,  the  smallest 

ever  published.    0  vols.,  48mo.,  cloth,  uncut.      Loud.,  1825. 
$9. 
*,*  This  beautiful  edition  of  Shakespeare  was  published  imder  the  pat- 
ronage of  Earl  Spencer,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  typography 
ever  produced. 

Dramatic  Works.     The    Text    regulated  by  the  old  copies, 

and  by  the  recently  discovered  Folio  of  1632,  contahiing 
early  MS.  emendations.  Edited  by  J.  P.  Collier.  Portrait 
of  Shakespeare  copied  from  the  Folio  Edition  of  1023.  Royal 
8vo*.,  half  calf,  extra.     Lond.,  1853.     $7. 

Plays,  with  the  Corrections  and  Illustrations  of  various  Com- 
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Dramatic  and  Poetical  Works,  with  Life  by  Barry  Corn- 
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Works,  in   reduced  facsimiles   from  the  first  Folio,  1623. 

Edited  by  J.  O.  Halliwell-Philipps.      Lond.,  1876.     |3. 


Ill 


Works.  Edited  by  Cliarles  and  jNfary  Cowden  Clarke.  Por- 
trait.    4  vols.,  Svo.,  tree  calf,  extra.     Lend.,   1874.     f!l8. 

Hundred    ]\[erry    Tales  (The),  or  Shakespeare's   Jest  Book. 

12  mo.,  halfnior.,  scarce.      1881.    $1.75. 

Jest  liooks,  with  Preface  and  Glossary,  by  S.  W.  Sinoer,  the 

3  parts  c()nq)lete  in  1  vol.,  8vo.  (only  250  copies  ])rinted), 
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1567;  A  Hundred  Merry  Tales,  Kostell,  1529.  The  former 
book  is  most  proliably  the  one  from  which  Benedick  accuses 
Beatrice  of  "  stealing-  all  her  good  wit." 

Poems  by  Wm.  Shakespeare,  loith   scarce  portra'd.     12mo., 

mor.     Evans,  Lond.,  n.  d.     |3. 

Songs  of  Shakespeare.  Illustrated  by  the  Etching  Club.  Large 
2Mi2:>er,  heatitifal  designs,  folio,  cloth.     Lond.,  1843.     |12. 

Seven  Ages  of  Man.    Illustrated   by   Gilbert    Claxton,   &c. 

4to.     Lond  ,  n.  d.     |)75. 

Illustrations  to   Shakespeai'e.    By  Robert  Smirke.  87  plates, 

in  portfolio.     ^\0. 

Seven    Ages  Illustrated.     8  plates,  and  pages   of  text  with 

engraved  1)orders.    4to.     1850.     175. 

Moral   Sentences   culled   from   the  Works   of   Shakespeare 

compared  with  saci'ed  passages  in  Holy  Writ.  Portrait. 
8vo.,  cloth,  gilt.     Lond.,  n.  d.     11.50. 

The  Shakespeare  Gallery,  containing  the  princij)al  female  char- 
acters in  the  plays.  Engraved  in  the  highest  style  by  C^has. 
Heath.  45  plates.  Large  paper  proof  on  India.  4to.,  mor. 
Rare  in  this  State.     Lond.,  n.  d.     |24. 

Boaden,  James.  Inquiry  into  the  authenticity  of  various  Pictures 
and  Prints  as  Portraits  of  Shakespeare.  5  j^lates.  8vo,, 
bds.,  uncut.     L(md.,   1824.     |5. 

Bucknill,  J.  C.  Mad  Folk  of  Shakespeare.  Psychological  Es- 
says.     r2mo.,  cloth.     Lond.,  1867.     $1.50. 

Clarke,  Mrs.  C.  Com])lete  Concordance  to  Shakespeare;  a 
Verbal  Index  to  all  the  passages  in  his  Dramatic  Works. 
8vo.,  cloth,  uncut.  The  old  edition,  now  scarce.  Lond.,  n.d. 
111. 

Collier,  J.  P.  JVIemoirs  of  Edward  AUeyn,  including  some  new 
particulars  respecting  Shakespeare,  Ben  Jonson,  etc,  8vo., 
cloth,  uncut.     Lond.^  1841.     |1.7^. 

Collier,  J.  P.  The  History  of  English  Dramatic  Poetry  to  tlie 
time  of  Shakespeare,  and  Annals  of  the  Stage  to  the  Res- 


IV 


toration.     3  vols.,  8vo.;  calf,  gilt;  fine  copy;  scarce.  Lend., 
1831.      $18. 
Presentation  copy  to  Francis  Cunningliam,  sou  of  Allan  Cunningham, 
"\vitli  autograpliof  J.  Payne  Collier. 

Curling,  Henry.     Shakespeare  :  the  Poet,  the  Lover,  the  Actor, 
the  Man.     A  romance.     3  vols.,  12mo.,  half  mor.,  extra;  gilt 
tops;  uncut.     Lond.,  1848.     $7. 
Evans,   John.     Progress  of    Human   Life,  Shakespeare's  Seven 
Ages  of  Man,  illustrated  by  a  series  of  extracts  in   prose 
ami   poetry.      Woodcuts,    uncut;   12mo.      Chiswick,    1823. 
$1.50. 
Fairliolt,    F.    W.     Heroes  of  Shakespeare    illustrated    and    de- 
scribed.    33  engravings.     12mo.     Lond.,  1847.     11.75. 
Hall,  Edward.     Chronicle:  the  Union  of  the  two  Noble  and  Illus- 
trious Families  of  Lancaster  and  Yorke,  long  in    continual 
discussion,  from  the  reigne  of  Henry  IV.  to  that  of  Henry 
VIII.,  the  undubitable  flower  and  very  heire  of  both  the 
sayd  linages.      Folio,  calf;  antique;  splendid  copy.     1850. 
$50. 
Edward  Malone's  copy,  with  long  ]\IS.  note  signed. 

It  is  to  this  Clu'onicfe  tliat  Shalcespeare  is  chietiy  indebted,  in  his  His- 
torical Plays,  for  not  only  the  incidents,  but  frequently  the  very  words  of 
his  characters. — 8ir    Oouftnay\'(  Commentaries  on   8hakespeare\H  Historical 
Plays. 
Col.  Stanley's  sold  for  £30  10s.,  and  lleathcote's  for  £33  2s. 

Hamilton.  Inquiry  into  the  Genuineness  of  the  Manuscript 
Corrections  in  J.  Payne  Collier's  Annotated  Edition,  1G32. 
Fac-similes.     4to.,  cloth,  uncut.     Lond.,   1860.     $2.50. 

Heath,  Chas.     The  Heroines  of  Shakespeare,  comprising  all 

the  principal  Female  Characters  in  the  Pl;>ys  of  the  great 
Poet.  42  fine  steel  portraits,  in  the  original  parts;  scarce. 
Lond.,  Bogue.     $8. 

Ireland,  S.  Picturesque  Views  on  the  River  Avon.  Royal  8vo., 
with  plates  and  woodcuts  illustrating  Shakespeare;  large 
paper  copy;  half  mor.     1795.     $12. 

Ireland.  The  Confessions  of  Wm.  Henry  Ireland,  containing 
the  particulars  of  his  fabrication  of  the  Shakespeare  Manu- 
scripts, together  with  Anecdotes  and  Opinions  (hitherto 
unpublished)  of  many  distinguished  persons  in  the  literary, 
political,  and  theatrical  world  (fac-similes).  8vo.,  half  calf. 
Lond.,  1805.  $3.50. 
"The  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  trutli." 


Kenny,  ThoTuas.  Life  and  Genius  of  Shakespeare.  Two  fine 
portraits,  and  a  view  of  Stratford  Church.  8vo.,  ck^th. 
Lond.,  1864.     f2.25. 

Malone,  Ed.  Inquiry  into  tlie  Authenticity  of  Pa])ers  publislu'd 
1795  attributed  to  Sliakes[)eare,  &(.'.  3  phites.  Svo.,  hds., 
uncut.     Lond.,  IV 96.     $4. 

Rider,  Wm.  Views  in  Stratford-upon  Avon  and  its  Vicinity, 
ilhistrative  of  the  Biogra])]iy  of  Shakespeare.  5  beautiful 
etchings.  Large  paper;  ])ro()fs  on  India;  folio;  Ixls. ;  uncut. 
Rare.     Lend.,  1828.     -tU. 

Singer,  S.  W.  The  Text  of  Shakes])eare  Vindicated  from  the 
Interpolations  of  Collier.  8vo.,  bds.,  uncut.  Lond.,  Picker- 
ing.    $1.75. 

Thornbury,  (x.  W.  Shakespeare's  England;  or,  Sketches  of  our 
Social  History  in  the  IJeign  of  P^lizabeth.  .3  vols.,  12mo., 
half  nior.,  extra,  gilt  to])s,  uncut.     Lond.,  1856.     |6. 

Wheler,  R.  1>.  History  and  Anti(piities  of  Stratford-on-Avon, 
with  Life  of  Shakespeare,  embellished  with  8  fine  engrav- 
ings.     l2mo.,  half  mor. ;  scarce.     Stratford,  n.  d.     ^4. 

Williams.  The  Secret  Passion.  3  vols.,  12mo.,  half  mor.,  extra, 
gilt  tops;  uncut.     Lond.,  1844.     17. 

Williams.  Shakespeare  and  his  Friends;  or,  the  Golden  Age  of 
Merry  England.  3  vols.,  12mo.,  half  mor.,  extra,  gilt  tops, 
uncut;  scarce.     Lond.,  1838. 

Williams.  The  Youth  of  Shakespeare;  or.  Love  and  Genius, 
3  vols.,  l2mo.,  half  calf,  gilt.     Lond.,  1839.     *7.50. 

Wivell,  A.  Inquiry  into  the  History,  Authenticity,  and  Char- 
acteristics of  the  Shakespeare  Portraits,  Avith  the  Supple- 
ment. 20  Portraits  of  Shakespeare.  2  vols,  in  1,  8vo.,  calf. 
Lond.,  1827,     118. 

These  two  parts  are  very  rarely  found  together,  the  Supplement  being 
excessively  scarce. 

Williams.  Secret  Passion.  By  the  Author  of  Shakespeare  and 
his  Friends.     3  vols.,   8vo.,  half  mor.,  uncut.     Lond.,  1844. 

17.50. 


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